


Bad Ideas

by Pixiigh



Series: Best Laid Plans [1]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Crushes, F/F, F/M, Farmer has a crush on everyone, Farmer is bad at communication, Friendship, Non-Graphic Sexual Content, She means well, Some nice fluff, Super Bad Ideas, Super ridiculous, Swearing, Will add relationship tags as they come up, there's plot in here somewhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-01 06:03:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 48,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13992018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixiigh/pseuds/Pixiigh
Summary: Quinn jumps at the chance to take over Grandpa's old farm in Stardew Valley, years after he passes. She's unfamiliar with the traditions and customs of Pelican Town, and - although she tries to make the best of it - she has no idea what she's doing.





	1. Arrival

“… I know nothing about farming.”

Quinn looked out at the expanse of farmland her grandfather had left to her. She had jumped at the chance to move to Pelican Town to get away from the soul sucking autonomy of JojaCorp without really thinking about what the move would actually involve. Although she had spent some time here as a child while Grandpa Briar was still alive, she never actually helped him do much besides collecting eggs from the now run down chicken coop.

“I am out of my element.”

There was a lot to do. Because Grandpa’s will was stuck in probate court for several years due to her vindictive aunt, the resulting farmland was overrun with weeds, fallen wood, and Yoba knew what else. The deck outside the small farm house was far past its prime, the rotted wood bowing under her feet. The house itself was covered in cobwebs and several bug species had made their homes there over the years. She shook her head.

“I’m a city girl, trying to be a farmer. You’ve really done it this time, Quinn.”

She stepped off the porch and looked at the mess of tools before her. Robin, the local carpenter, had pointed them out before she left that morning with Mayor Lewis. Grandpa had left a few rusty garden tools, an axe, and a pickaxe. Looking at them, Quinn realized she had only ever used the watering can before in her life.

“What am I doing?”

Hesitantly, she picked up the hoe, walked a few steps forward, and plunged it into the ground. The dirt was softer than it looked, and it was easy to move around to make a home for the parsnip seeds Mayor Lewis had left her.

“…Maybe this won’t be so bad.”

 It took her some time, but she eventually got the seeds planted and watered. The small patch of farm that wasn’t covered in debris was now full of life. She stood back to admire what she had done, wiping the sweat of the late afternoon off her face.

“Not bad for a city girl.”

* * *

 

A few days and a few trips to see Pierre Chandler at his shop later, Quinn’s first parsnip crops were ready for harvest.

She had been given a fishing rod by Willy Seabury shortly after her arrival, and had been making money for more seeds by fishing. The fish didn’t bring in a huge amount of money, and she was still absolutely terrible at it, but it was something. The seeds she bought with her fishing income were planted alongside the parsnips to make a little garden in front of her new home.

And now the parsnips were ready. She relished pulling them out of the ground. Each one was better than the last, in her inexperienced opinion. Her grandfather would have been proud. Watering the rest of her infant crops was more enjoyable than usual, as she was now able to picture what it would feel like when she got to pull those up as well.

She loaded the vegetables into her backpack and set off towards the General Store. Mayor Lewis had mentioned something about loading any goods to sell in the trunk beside her house, but selling them to Pierre felt more proper. They would stay in Pelican Town and everyone would get to enjoy the fresh produce.

The distance from the farm to the bus stop was about a kilometer, and then half a kilometer past that was Pelican Town proper. Although she had made the journey several times over the past few days, it still left Quinn winded. Perhaps if she didn’t run the whole way, it wouldn’t be as bad, but she was a creature of habit and ran the whole way regardless.

She leaned against the fence behind Emily and Haley’s property, breathing heavily.

“Uh… are you okay?”

It was Sam Hartford.

Quinn looked up to meet the slightly worried eyes of the young blonde man and waved him off.

“I swear to Yoba that when I moved here, my body aged sixty years,” she said, her hand on her lower back. “I worked in an office too long. I’m fine. I’ll get used to it.”

Sam gave her a weird look. “How… how old are you?”

“Sam, don’t ask a lady how old she is.” Sam’s mother, Jodi, appeared from around the corner. “It’s rude. Good morning, Farmer! How is everything going? Have you grown anything yet?"

Quinn opened her backpack so Jodi could see its contents.

“Fresh picked parsnips! My first harvest!” She admitted to herself that there was more pride in her voice than there should be. After all, they were just parsnips, and now that she was a farmer, there were better things to be proud of than plain old parsnips. She just wasn’t sure what yet.

Jodi examined the contents of the backpack. “Are you selling these to Pierre? Do you mind if I buy a few off you first?”

“Of course not!” Quinn beamed. She knew Pierre could be a little cheap, and she was happy to share what she had with her neighbours. “Take your pick.”

Jodi selected three large parsnips and handed over some gold. As Quinn pocketed the money, Jodi bade her a good day.

“Maybe you should take a break,” Sam called to her over his shoulder as he followed his mother. Quinn stuck her tongue out at him. Dumb kid.

She was starting to get to know her neighbours better. She spent most of her first night socializing at the Saloon with Sam and his friends, Sebastian St-Pierre and Abigail Chandler. She made fast friends with the barmaid Emily Bennett. She briefly talked to a beautiful young woman named Leah Watson, who told Quinn about her sculpting. Emily happily chatted to her about a few other people in the Valley that she had yet to meet. Overall, she was beginning to feel at home.

The door to Pierre’s shop gave a little jingle when she walked in. Pierre smiled at her.

“Good morning, Miss Briar!” he exclaimed. “Do you have some parsnips for me today?”

“I sure do!” Quinn unloaded the parsnips onto the counter. Pierre examined all twelve with interest.

“These look great, Quinn,” he said when he was finished. “Old Tom Briar would be delighted. And, of course, my high quality seeds played a role in that!”

The transaction finished with Quinn buying some tulip seeds. Pierre explained that tulips weren’t really worth much, but they made excellent gifts. Quinn thanked him for the advice and left.

As she was leaving the store, it occurred to her that she was pretty much done her work for the day, so she decided to explore the path that lead behind Pierre's store, having not been up that way yet. 

The trail started going uphill rather quickly. She got winded again.

“I… am so… out of shape…” she huffed to herself.

She didn’t want to slow down, afraid she would lose the momentum she had built up. Finally, _finally_ , she came upon a house and the terrain sloped downward to flatness. She leaned against the fence separating the mountainous descent from where she stood, her heart leaping into her throat. Had JojaCorp really been that bad for her cardiovascular health?

As her breath returned, she examined the house. When she arrived in Pelican Town, Robin explained on their walk to Quinn’s new farm that she and her family lived in the mountains. Unable to see any other houses in the area, Quinn assumed this was her house.

_Not bad,_ she thought. _Although, would I expect anything different from the only carpenter around?_

When her lungs had returned to normal, she began to walk aimlessly again. She soon came upon a lake, and looking around, she noticed a cavern. Curious, she headed over.

When she reached the mouth of the cavern, she heard a voice inside. Despite every horror movie trope flooding her head in that moment, she ventured inside.

An old man was the source of the voice, staring at a ladder sticking from the ground. He barely looked up when she came stood across from him.

“…I was just peering down into this old mine shaft,” he said, which explained where the ladder went. “It’s been abandoned for decades. Still, there’s probably good ore down there. But a dark place, undisturbed for so long… I’m afraid ore isn’t the only thing you’ll find…”

That gave Quinn chills. The old man was really freaking her out.

Suddenly, he pulled an old, rusty sword from nowhere and offered it to her.

“Here. Take this – you might need it.”

Quinn hesitated, but took the sword. It wasn’t very large, and she was able to slip it into her backpack without it sticking out.

“Name’s Marlon, by the way,” the old man said. “I run the Adventurer’s Guild right outside. I’ll keep my eye on you. Prove yourself, and I might think about making you a member.”

With that, he left the mine. Quinn stared after him.

“What on Earth was that?”

She looked down the mine shaft. She couldn’t see very far, and it just looked like the ladder was descending into compete darkness. She could hear faint noises from down below, which caused her to jump up and away from the hole.

There was no way she was going down that mine shaft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. This is the first time I've written in a while, and I'm the only one going through and editing it, so please let me know if there's anything I should fix. I know I'm kind of shitty at pacing, and like I said, it's the first time I've written in a while, but other than that, I think it's pretty okay!


	2. The Mines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn meets Doctor Harvey after making terrible choices.

Despite her better judgement, and against the advice of literally everyone she spoke to about it, Quinn decided to go into the mines the first day it rained.

When she first met Marlon less than a week prior, she promised she would stay away from the Mines. As soon as she got home that night, however, she couldn’t stop thinking about the adventure that was sure to await her. Though she was not usually the adventurous type, something about the mines pulled her in.

She readied herself to face the walk to the mountains in the rain, packed her sword and pickaxe, and set off.

Her journey up the mountain was made easier by discovering a shortcut just off her farm. It wasn’t as steep as going the other way, and shaved at least an hour off the journey. She could hear her tools clinking together in her backpack and the rain falling off the hood of her jacket as she walked. It sounded nice.

She soon made it to Robin’s house. The rain hadn’t let up one bit. It was a warm rain, and through the thick curtains of water falling from the sky, she could see Linus Selig.

Everyone called him a mountain man. Quinn wasn’t sure what to call him. He was wary of her at first, but when she noticed him on her way home from the first time in the mines, she felt something for him. It wasn’t pity, exactly – he had told her that he chose to live in a tent in the mountains – but it wasn’t really anything else. She wanted to take care of him. She had been bringing him a fresh vegetable every day, thanks to her overestimating how much to plant. If nothing else, she knew he had something to eat.

“Good morning,” he said as she approached. “A warm rain is a pleasant way to get clean.”

“Hello, Linus. I don’t have anything for you this morning, I’m afraid.”

“That’s alright,” he said. “I appreciate it when you do, but you need to make money. What brings you up here this morning?”

Quinn had been walking the entire exchange. She didn’t stop now.

“I’m going into the mines!”

“W-what? Wait, Quinn, you can’t go into the mines! It’s too dangerous! Quinn! Come back!”

She picked up her pace. She had expected this reaction, but thought it wise to let someone know where she would be. She certainly didn’t want to tell Marlon. For every dream she had about the treasures she would find in the mines, his creepy face ruined every single one of them.

She was soon clear of the radius of Linus’ calls, and crossed the bridge to the mine. She proactively took the pickaxe and the sword out of her backpack, keeping the pick in her hand and securing the sword to a belt loop.

“This is it,” she said, licking her wet lips in anticipation. “I’m going in.”

Sheltered from the rain inside the mines, she spotted the ladder and climbed down, trying to swallow the nervousness and apprehension that was starting to make its way up into her throat.

The first level of the mine was nothing but rock, which she split with the pickaxe easily. She had gained some upper body strength from doing this exact action on the farm, and the rocks felt much less hard than they actually were.

Underneath one rock was another ladder. She climbed down, her feet unsure of when they would reach solid ground. When they finally did, she was greeted by nothing but rock again.

She groaned. She wasn’t going to make much money down here if all the mine had to offer was plain old rock. She hit at them anyway, reasoning that she could use the bigger pieces of rock for something sooner or later.

As she worked, a quiet squelching noise from in the distance started, and as she progressed, began getting louder. She didn’t notice it at first, but she stopped as she rounded a corner.

“Hello?” she called, not thinking about any potential consequences that might stem from being too loud in a mine. “Is someone there?”

The squelching got louder. Unable to see very far, Quinn abandoned thoughts of mining rock and pulled out the sword. She had absolutely zero training and no idea how to even wield a sword, but perhaps whatever was down there would get scared at the sight of it.

Without any warning, something shot out at her and knocked her to the ground. Disoriented, she started waving the sword around to try to ward whatever it was off, but it didn’t seem to work. An angry green blob was charging at her, and it easily got between the sword and _bit her arm._

She screamed, not knowing what else to do. She shook her arm violently until the thing flew off, hitting the wall and practically evaporating in front of her eyes with the same disgusting squelch she heard before.

“What the… what the _fuck…”_

She looked at her arm where the blob bit her. It had left a red mark as angry as it was when it charged her, and it was spreading. She panicked and screamed again. Her vision started to blur and she felt her other hand drop the sword onto the ground with a loud clatter.

The last thing she heard and saw before her senses failed completely was someone coming down the ladder.

* * *

 

“Ah, she’s starting to wake up.”

When Quinn opened her eyes, slowly and painfully, she was greeted by the kind face of Doctor Fairchild.

“W-Wass-goin-on?”

Her words didn’t come out properly, but she felt that they would be sufficient. The Doctor held out his hand and felt her forehead.

“Linus brought you in,” he explained. His voice was clear and soothing, and Quinn enjoyed it in her dazed state. “You had a run in with a slime in the mines. Normally slimes aren’t so bad, but you unfortunately got one that bites. Nasty critters.”

“A… a what?”

Quinn could barely remember what happened, but she remembered the angry blob that had attacked her. _How did that thing have teeth when it didn’t even have a skeleton?_

Slime,” the Doctor explained. Quinn couldn’t remember his first name. “They live on most levels of the mines. No one is sure how they got there, and not all of them have teeth, but they are quite the nuisance. The ones that do bite have a sort of numbing agent in their venom, which makes you fall asleep for a period of time. They’re not as dangerous as other creatures that live in the mine, but recovery can still be a bit complicated.”

Quinn’s head was spinning, and she was sure it didn’t have anything to do with the bite. Something like the slime she saw in the mines shouldn’t have been biologically possible. She saw how it moved, but at the same time, had no idea how it moved. What did it eat?

 “The mines are dangerous, Quinn,” he said, sounding a bit more stern this time. “I need you to promise you won’t go back in there.”

“I have a sword,” Quinn argued, her voice suddenly returning to her. “I just… don’t know how to use it.”

The Doctor removed his hand from feeling her face. “At least promise me you’ll practice a little before you go back in.”

She grudgingly accepted. He began to perform a few minor checkups.

She watched him work in fascination. Doctors in the city were much less personal than he was; visits were always short and ended in less time than it took to get there. He also seemed younger than most doctors she had encountered.

He was endearing. He would look up as he rewrapped the bandage on her arm and smile. Quinn wasn’t sure if it was the drugs that were making her react, but she would dopily smile back.

 _He’s cute,_ the voice in the back of her head said. _Ask him out or something._

“Thanks, Doctor Fairchild,” she said, gingerly rubbing her sore arm and trying to distract herself from the stupid voice.

“Call me Harvey, please,” he replied as he handed her a bottle of pain medication for when it got bad. “If it changes, or gets worse, or even if you just have trouble changing your bandage, please don’t hesitate to come see me.”

 _Harvey._ _How did I forget that? He looks like a Harvey._

“I’ve never changed a bandage before in my life, Doc, so expect to see my mug around,” she said with a smile.

“You’re young,” Harvey said. “You’ll heal quickly.”

Light blinded Quinn as she exited the clinic. She stumbled backwards a little.

“…Is it a different day already?”

She was used to talking to herself on the farm, or fishing, or foraging, or pretty much anywhere, and no one would be around to hear her. This was not so as she stood in the middle of the town.

“You okay there, Farmer? Uh, you need a hand?”

It was Sam. Again. Of course it was Sam. He looked concerned at the sight before him.

“The Doctor drugged me,” Quinn explained. “I got bitten by a slime and he drugged me.”

Sam’s look of bewilderment reflected how Quinn felt. She had no idea why she had said what she just said.

“He didn’t drug me on purpose,” she said, trying to backtrack. “Well, he did, but he had to sew up my arm and I don’t think that’s something anyone needs to be awake for. He didn’t do anything bad, is what I’m trying to say. The Doctor is a very, _very_ nice man.”

Her garbled explanation didn’t ease the confusion on Sam’s face. “Oh… Kay….”

“I’m just a little out of it, Sam, don’t mind me.”

“Are you going to be alright?”

For someone as young as Sam (or at least, as young as he looked, Quinn had no idea how old he actually was), he carried the concern of someone much older. She expected that it came from caring for his younger brother as their father was away at war.

 _He’s kind of cute, you know._ That stupid voice in the back of her head was at it again. _Sure, he’s a little young, but…_

She shook her head. _Why are you doing this today, brain? Stop thinking about everyone you meet like that. You’re not doing this again. Also, dummy, he’s like, twelve. That’s enough out of you._

Sam took her head shake to mean that she was not alright, and he hesitantly approached her with his hand out, intending to guide her home. She quickly realized her mistake.

“I wasn’t saying no to you,” she said, waving her hands about. “I was… never mind what I was doing. I’m fine. I can get home fine. Thank you, Sam.”

The blonde didn’t look convinced, but dropped his arm anyway.

She managed to stumble home on her own. The smell of the wet soil from the rain the day before filled her nose as she approached her farm. Her cat, Trillium, greeted her angrily from her perch on the deck.

Trillium had been brought to her a few days prior by Marnie, a kind lady who ran the ranch south of the farm. Although Quinn had never been a cat person, she accepted the poor thing and tried her best to make the cat feel at home.

Unfortunately, the cat did not accept Quinn as her new owner. Trillium was belligerent, meowing loudly at all hours of the night and scratching up Quinn’s furniture. Still, Quinn was starting to endear to her new pet.

“Oh, Trill, did I forget to feed you before I almost died in the mines? What a shame.”

Trillium, still angry, meowed back at the human. Quinn entered the farmhouse with the cat, and, arm screaming protests at the bag of cat food, dumped some kibble into the dish. Trillium ate two bites and walked away.

Too tired to water her crops that day, Quinn hobbled to her bedroom and fell face first into her bed without even taking off her backpack, doing her best to keep pressure of her arm.

“I should have just stayed away from that stupid mine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a lot of this written already. I hope you enjoy! Please let me know if it's poop :)


	3. Friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tries to befriend Shane. Gets Alex instead.

Quinn was sitting at the Saloon early one evening, thinking about the calendar outside Pierre’s. She typically checked it every day, looking out for birthdays and jobs she could be doing. Today was Shane’s birthday.

Shane Whitman was a bit more difficult than anyone else in the town. She had been making progress at befriending pretty close to everyone, but seemed to be at a standstill with him. He never seemed to want to talk, least of all to her. But she was determined.

She arrived at the Saloon well before he typically made an appearance. Gus confirmed that Shane’s favourite beverage was a simple beer, and though he had concern in his voice when he said it, he agreed that it would make a good birthday gift.

So, she waited for him.

“Will you be at the flower dance?”

Emily’s voice shook Quinn from her daze. She had been completely unaware of her surroundings until this point, sitting at the bar and staring at the door.

Turning her attention to Emily, she said, “uh, the what?”

“The flower dance!” Emily exclaimed as she put down the mug she had been washing. “Quinn, you just have to go.”

“But what is it?”

“The flower dance is a spring tradition around here. We all gather in the clearing in the forest and… well, we dance. There’s also food. You should come!”

Quinn made a face. “Emily, I don’t know how to dance. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do less.”

When she saw Emily’s crestfallen expression, she added, “but I’ll think about coming to check it out. How bad could it be?”

Emily’s smile seemed to extend all the way to the tips of her hair and it made Quinn feel warm. She really liked Emily, and she liked seeing her friend happy.

“You can borrow one of my dresses,” Emily said. “I have a few. I make them myself!”

Emily was something Quinn had never encountered before. Sure, Quinn had friends back in Zuzu City, but nothing compared to how quickly she warmed up to the barmaid with the blue hair. She felt comfortable around Emily.

“Wait.” Quinn had a thought. “Do I… have to dance? Like with another person?”

Emily shrugged. “If you want to. I usually sit it out and just go to socialize. My sister Haley is flower queen every year though, so if you asked her she would insist that you dance.”

“So it’s like… prom?”

Quinn started having a flashback to being seventeen. She hadn’t been asked by anyone to her senior prom, but went anyway. Her mother had picked out a very unfashionable pink gown, ignoring Quinn’s protests that ‘brunettes don’t look good in pink!’ She encountered many crying girls in the bathroom that night, and she had stepped in someone’s vodka induced vomit.

She shuddered at the thought of prom.

“I mean… I guess it is. But it’s better, because no one is in high school anymore!”

Emily wasn’t making a very convincing argument, but Quinn could tell her friend was desperately trying to get her to come to the dance anyway. Resigned, she sent a message with her measurements to a bouncing Emily.

“It’ll be fun, I promise!”

Quinn smiled and continued watching the door, her thoughts turning back to Shane’s birthday.

As if on cue, he entered the Saloon, looking as grumpy and tired as usual. He muttered something to Emily, and Quinn cleared her throat.

“I’m buying your first beer today, Shane. Happy birthday!”

He looked up at her, his face painted with confused shock.

“You remembered my birthday? I’m impressed. Thanks.”

_That’s all I’m going to get?_

She stared at him, her eyes burning bigger holes in his sweater.

He cleared his throat. “It’s a good gift.”

_Good enough._

Feeling satisfied that she got that much out of him, she turned to leave as Emily placed a beer on the bar in front of him.

“Are you leaving?” He sounded surprised. “Didn’t you just get here?”

Quinn was slightly taken aback by Shane’s sudden friendliness towards her. It was hardly like him at all.

“I mean, I can stay,” she said, turning from the door. “I don’t have any plans. I don’t want to intrude.”

Shane shrugged and sat down in a booth with his beer. “It’s whatever.”

Quinn slid in the booth across from him, still apprehensive about him. “It’s just, I haven’t spent much time talking to you, and then the other day you did tell me to fuck off… and the day before that you said that you didn’t know me so you didn’t want to talk to me. I could go on.”

Shane rolled his eyes. “You gonna bring that up? I was having a bad day, sue me.”

“It was seven o’clock in the morning, Shane.”

“I regret asking you to stay,” he grumbled in response. “You pry too much. On my fuckin’ birthday, too.”

Quinn wasn’t sure what to do. “So… should I… leave?”

Shane shrugged, his surly attitude back and worse than ever. Quinn decided to leave.

The interaction with Shane left her grumpy. She was just trying to do something nice for his birthday. She hadn’t realized she was grumbling to herself until she heard Alex Mullner’s voice cutting through her mutterings.

“Hey, Quinn.”

He sounded casual, but almost… expectant? _Has he been waiting for me?_

“Hi, Alex.”

She didn’t know much about him. She knew that Grandpa Briar had been very close with Alex’s grandparents, Evelyn and George. While Quinn had been stopped a few times by Evelyn to chat, she hadn’t spared Alex much thought.

“Nice evening,” he said, gesturing up to the sky with the gridball that was permanently attached to his hand. “You going for a walk?”

Quinn shrugged. “I’m probably just going home. I don’t have any plans after that. I might just watch a few movies or something.”

He looked like he was going to reply, but was cut off by the sudden appearance of Haley Bennett.

“There you are!” she exclaimed, and immediately attached herself to Alex’s arm. “I have been looking _everywhere_ for you.”

“Hi, Haley,” Quinn said. “I was just leaving.”

 “Oh, Quinn, you don’t have to go,” Haley said, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness. “I just wanted to make sure I gave _my_ Alex a goodnight kiss!”

She pulled Alex’s face down to hers and made a show of kissing him. Quinn, not wanting to be privy to the very public display of affection, rolled her eyes and began walking towards the farm.

She could tell what Haley was up to. It wasn’t hard to see through her act. She felt threatened by Quinn for some reason, and Quinn thought it was childish.

“Quinn, wait!”

Alex was jogging towards her, Haley nowhere in sight. Quinn sighed. She just wanted to go home.

“What is it?” she asked, her words coming out more harshly than she had intended. “I’m really tired, Alex, I just want to go home.”

If her tone had hurt Alex’s feelings at all, he didn’t show it. Quite the contrary, he regarded Quinn with an easy smile.

“Actually, that’s sort of what I wanted to bring up,” he started. “I noticed you’re always tired. Like, always. I wanted to ask if you needed a hand with anything on the farm. I wouldn’t be much help with like, crops and stuff, but I could help you clear some of the overgrowth.”

Quinn considered this. No matter how much she thought she was clearing, it always seemed to come back. Fallen tree branches threatened to retake her land at this point.

“Maybe. I wouldn’t really be able to pay much, though, if that’s what you’re after.”

Alex shrugged, seemingly unfazed. “I’m not looking for money. Just looking to help out.”

“…And what else?” Quinn squinted at him. She could tell he had an ulterior motive. He immediately looked guilty.

“Well… I know you’re from the city, and figured you probably had connections…”

She groaned. “Are you kidding me? I worked at fucking JojaCorp, Alex, unless you want a connection to manufacturers of artificial air, you’re not going to get far with me.”

He still didn’t seem disappointed. “Well, it was worth a try. Hit me up if you need help with anything, though. I’m not that much of a slimeball.”

He gave her a small wave and departed back to his grandparents’ house. Quinn was a bit surprised at this. She had honestly had him pegged as a slimeball.

“Can you make it for seven tomorrow morning?”


	4. Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn learns about Gridball Boy.

Despite not answering her call to him the night before, Alex showed up with an axe at seven o’clock the next morning. Quinn was picking her bean stalks when she heard him arrive.

“So, you actually came!” She had a hard time suppressing the happiness in her voice. Finally, someone around here would help out.

Alex smiled. “Of course! I said what I said, connections or no connections. It’ll be a good workout, if nothing else.”

She returned to her beans. It had been quite the investment at Pierre’s, but it was paying off. The multiple harvests of the little green vegetables had more than made up for what she had spent. She set the smaller ones aside for pickling, a skill she found herself enjoying after coming across Grandpa’s farming journals.

Alex wasted no time getting to work on the fallen tree parts that littered the farm. He kept all salvageable wood in a neat pile near the greenhouse, a nice touch that Quinn appreciated.

They worked in silence for a while. Quinn moved from her beans to her Blue Jazz flowers. The delicate petals danced in the wind as she carefully cut the stems. She wasn’t particularly a fan of this flower, but they would make good gifts regardless.

Alex started working on branches closer to her, and finally spoke.

“So, why _did_ you leave the city?”

Quinn paused before answering. She didn’t want to reveal too much, but she also didn’t want to seem closed off or aloof. “I needed something different. Being in the city and working for a big corporation might seem like a dream, but it’s not. I did well for myself, don’t get me wrong. I accomplished things that people my age would only dream of. But… I don’t think I did it the right way. I just needed to get out of there.”

Alex stopped chopping for a moment, grounding his axe and leaning on it. She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his.

“City Quinn was kind of a shitbag, Alex. I couldn’t stand to be around myself anymore. A lot of people didn’t like me for the things I did.”

She smiled sadly. “Coming here is like coming into a new life, you know? One where no one knows me and can’t judge me for anything but my produce.”

She had no idea why she was telling him this. She hadn’t even told Emily any of this. Alex wasn’t even her friend. She shifted her gaze back to her flowers.

“Don’t tell anyone anything I just said. Don’t even think about it. I’m rambling. Maybe I’m losing my mind out here.”

Alex laughed. “I appreciate the honesty, Quinn. I’m sure you weren’t that bad.”

She scoffed. “I’m not talking about it. But what about you, what about your story?”

Alex shrugged, abandoning the axe and seating himself on the other side of the Jazz flower patch.

“I live with my grandparents, because they’re old and need help, there isn’t much more to it.”

She brought her eyes back up to his face. He was young, probably younger than she was, but not by much. Although he sounded honest, there were lines in his forehead and wrinkles around his eyes that betrayed him.

“I think there is.” Her flowers now abandoned, she folded her hands in her lap. “Why don’t you tell your friend neighbourhood Quinn about it?”

He laughed. “You’re weird.”

He couldn’t avoid the question. Quinn was too good at making people uncomfortably revel the truth, whether they wanted to or not. She stared harder at him.

“Fine,” he sighed. “I used to live with my parents. My mom… got sick when I was a kid and when she died, my dad didn’t want much to do with me. So he sent me to my grandparents and started spending every night at the bar.”

Quinn started to reach for his hand to comfort him, but thought better of it. She didn’t know if that would make things awkward or not.

Alex went on. “For a while, it looked like she was going to get better. I had hope, you know? But then she got worse, and as she got worse… he got worse. He started telling me it was my fault. That I was worthless and wouldn’t amount to anything. She heard. She would tell me he was wrong, but once she was gone, no one told me he was wrong anymore.”

Quinn felt an ache in her heart. She had obviously misjudged Alex, and she felt like complete garbage for it. She ignored her thoughts about inappropriate touching and reached for his hand. He took hers as though it brought him comfort.

“My grandparents are great though,” he said, his voice steadying. “And I have friends here. And despite what that trash human thinks, I’m gonna go pro. I’m going to make something of myself, and no one will have to tell me he’s wrong. Cause he’ll be seeing it.”

Quinn admired his ambition.

“I believe in you, Alex,” she said with an encouraging smile. “Your dad is wrong. You’re going to be great.”

The smile she received in return was dazzling. “Thanks, Quinn. It feels so much better being able to get this out to someone. You can probably imagine how well Haley listens to me when I try to tell her this stuff.”

“Sometimes it’s easier to talk to a brick wall.” She knew this well. “I don’t mind, Alex, anytime you need to talk to someone, you know where I am.”

He laughed. “It’s just a matter of catching you when you’re running around the entire town. Where do you even go?”

She shrugged, glad that this conversation weighed less than the last. “There’s a lot to explore around here.”

“How often do you go into the mines?”

“Did Doctor Fairchild set you up to this?” She was suddenly suspicious. Ever since her first tryst in the mines, Harvey had been stopping her anytime he saw her, trying to get her to stop going. It was an oddly specific question for someone like Alex to just be asking like it was any old thing.

Alex looked confused. “What? No, no I’ve just never been in there and was curious.”

She relaxed, satisfied knowing Harvey wasn’t trying a new tactic. “It’s dangerous. I got bitten by a slime and ended up unconscious for an entire day the first time I went in. I fell down and woke up a day later in Harvey’s office.”

“I didn’t know you were such a thrill seeker,” Alex said with a chuckle. “You wouldn’t catch me down there, that’s for sure.”

“Are you going to the Flower Dance tomorrow?” Quinn couldn’t help but ask. She dreaded the thought of going by herself and sitting around with nothing to do while other people danced. She wasn’t in seventh grade anymore.

“I go every year,” he replied. “Haley makes me go. I’ll probably have to dance with her again. Something about upholding her reputation.”

Quinn withdrew her hand from his, suddenly very conscious of the fact that Haley might come looking for Alex and find them holding hands amongst the giant Jazz flowers. She didn’t want to see what would happen if Haley got angry, especially when it came to Alex.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” he said, accurately inferring what she was thinking. “She never was. I know she thinks she is, but we don’t, like… do stuff.”

“Ah, but the fact that she thinks there’s something going on is enough. I don’t want people thinking I’m a boyfriend stealer, even if the boyfriend wasn’t a boyfriend to begin with.”

“I suppose. Word travels fast around here,” Alex said with a sigh. “Do you have anyone to dance with tomorrow?”

She shook her head. “Nah. I might just skip it entirely. I’m not really great at big social events. I promised Emily I would go but I’m sure she’d forgive me.”

“Aw, Quinn, you have to go!” His voice was earnest. “Don’t let Haley ruin it for you. I would dance with you if I had confidence she wouldn’t cut my head off… but I don’t trust her not to do that.”

Quinn couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I don’t know her that well but even I wouldn’t put it past her. I might go. We’ll see how I feel.”

This made him grin. “It’ll be nice to see you in something other than overalls!”

She groaned. “You say you’re not dating her, but you sound _exactly_ like Haley! She’s always telling me I’d be prettier with makeup or in new clothes.”

“I think you’re pretty anyway.”

Something about Alex’s honesty felt refreshing. He was almost a complete stranger, but here they were anyway.

She smiled and rolled her eyes, uncrossing her legs and getting up. “And you’re kind of lame. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to, but I have crops to attend to.”

“I’ll stay.” He got up as well and returned to his axe. “I don’t know how you have so much… stuff on this farm, but it’s gotta get done eventually.”

* * *

 

She sent Alex home late that afternoon with a few jars of salmonberry jam and a tulip for his grandmother. She had joined him eventually after planting a few more parsnip seeds and broke through a cluster of rocks.

Conversation with Alex came easily. He enthusiastically shared his gridball passion, regaling her with tales from his high school varsity team, and how he took a few years off after graduating to find the right college.

The day had slipped from them quickly. She hadn’t wanted to keep Alex too long. Although she hadn’t had much experience with this herself yet, she was warned by Emily that people talked. About everything. She knew Evelyn would probably tell Caroline something about Alex being on the farm, Caroline would tell Jodi, Jodi in turn would tell everyone who came near, and then it would end in Haley getting the wrong impression.

Quinn decided that she didn’t really like Haley. There wasn’t anything spectacularly wrong with Haley, she had just listened to Alex tell occasional stories about her and her personality and decided that Haley wasn’t the kind of person she really wanted to spend her time with.

She had to feel bad for Alex – being defaulted into a relationship with Haley that he didn’t want – and tried to casually give him advice on how to break it off. She herself was absolutely terrible at breaking up, but fortunately was an expert in unsolicited advice.

“You could always, like, date someone you actually want to be with,” she had told him as she slammed her pickaxe into a stone. “You know, what normal people do.”

He had laughed at that, but she couldn’t read his expression. He didn’t mention Haley again and Quinn didn’t bring her up.

Now, as the sun set behind the treeline, she stretched out on her bed, her body aching. Her once angry and defiant cat followed her, seeming to warm up to the idea of having a human. Quinn scratched between her ears and the tabby purred.

“You had a long day, didn’t you Trill?” Quinn asked, knowing that all Trillium had done that day was nap in the sunlight. “It’s a hard life, being a cat.”

Trillium looked at her with round yellow eyes, and started purring louder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit that I didn't know that a Blue Jazz flower was an actual, real flower until I started this chapter. I thought they were giant mutant flowers. They're not. I'm going to pretend they are.


	5. The Flower Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn discovers a few things about Shane.

On the Eve of the Flower Dance, Quinn couldn’t sleep.

It was only nine o’clock, but normally she was out cold by this point. She chalked it up to nerves about having no one to dance with at what seemed to be the biggest event of the year. She had spent some time with Emily earlier that day to pick out a dress, and she was grateful she at least had that.

Huffing, she climbed out of bed. When she lived in the city, she always had a hard time sleeping, and frequently took short walks around the block to try to tire herself out. Perhaps it would work here as well.

Despite it being so close to summer, there was still a bit of a nip in the air at night, so she grabbed a hoodie and zipped it up to her chin before leaving.

It was still and dark outside. The air around her barely moved - a far cry from the constant sounds and lights of Zuzu City. She still wasn’t used to how peaceful it was out here.

Walking in the direction of the Cindersap Forest, she tried to block all thoughts of the upcoming festival from her mind, but didn’t do a very good job. She had visions of people laughing at her, despite how pretty the pale blue dress from Emily’s closet that she picked out was. She pictured the entire town dancing while she sat on the grass, alone. She knew these thoughts were trivial, but she couldn’t shake them.

As she got deeper into the forest, coming up on the lake, she heard something for the first time since leaving her house. Squinting into the darkness, she saw someone sitting at the end of the dock. Creeping closer, she realized it was Shane.

She felt bad as she snuck up on him, unsure as to whether she wanted to try to make conversation with him after all the times he rebuffed her and especially after the incident at the Saloon on his birthday, but he spoke, his voice cutting through the night.

“Up late, huh?”

She gave up trying to walk quietly and finished the length of the dock to sit beside him. He had a small stack of empty beer cans on the other side of him, and one in his hand. When he noticed her looking, he offered her an unopened can.

“Here, have a cold one.”

Quinn really didn’t like beer, she much preferred wine or fruity cocktails, but she took it anyway. She wanted to have an actual conversation with Shane.

They sat in silence for a moment, until –

“Buh. Life.”

She looked at him. His gaze was straight ahead, staring at nothing in the middle of the water. It looked like he was doing his best to keep his expression neutral, but there was something that betrayed sadness. He took a sip of his beer before he spoke again.

“You ever feel like… no matter what you do, you’re gonna fail? Like you’re stuck in some miserable abyss and you’re so deep you can’t even see the light of day?”

Another sip.

“I just feel like… no matter how hard I try, I’m not strong enough to climb out of that hole.”

Quinn didn’t know what to say or do. She had no idea that Shane was struggling so much. She cracked open the can of beer and drank as much of it as she could, as though it would give her the answer. She immediately felt dizzy from the smell of the shitty Joja brand brew.

“Heh, fast drinker, huh? Woman after my own heart,” Shane said as he watched her. “Just don’t make it a habit. You’ve got a future ahead of you still.”

He set his empty can down next to the others. Quinn reached for his hand, but at that moment, he got up.

“Well, my liver’s begging me to stop. Better call it a night. See you around, Quinn.”

With that, he left Quinn sitting at the end of the dock with nothing but the empty beer cans and her reeling thoughts as company. She wanted to call out to him, to comfort him, but had no idea how.

She sat in silence a few minutes longer until the slight buzz hit her. _Yoba, I’m a lightweight._

She gathered up as many cans as she could and headed back to the farmhouse, her head swimming with thoughts of Shane.

* * *

 

The morning of the Flower Dance dawned, and Quinn glowered at her own reflection.

“I don’t want to go,” she told the mirror defiantly. “I’m not going to have fun. Fuck dancing.”

The dress she borrowed from Emily was made from simple blue cotton and a bit of lace. She was thankful for its lack of detail, thinking back to the pink taffeta from senior prom and all those fucking rhinestones.

She left her hair down for the occasion, her usual braid forgotten. She couldn’t argue that she looked nice, she just didn’t want to go.

She moped for a while longer before she decided half-heartedly to leave, grumbling the whole way there.

She took the shortest route through the Cindersap Forest, half looking out for Shane again. She hadn’t stopped thinking of him since she ran into him the night before. She still wasn’t sure what she could say to him to help him.

She evidently walked faster than she thought, because before she knew it, she was about to trip over some colourful festival barriers.

“Yeah, that’ll make a great impression,” she muttered as she entered the clearing. “Show up covered in mud.”

It appeared as though most people had shown up already. Music that didn’t have any words was flowing through the field. Quinn quickly found a bench to park herself on so she could try to blend in with the surrounding lake.

Her fellow residents were milling about the clearing, chatting happily away with each other. She could see the Mom Squad (the affectionate nickname she had given Robin, Caroline and Jodi) laughing amongst themselves. Pierre was running a booth near the entrance that she had missed when she came in. Jas was chasing Vincent. Emily and Leah were having an animated discussion about artsy things, no doubt. She didn’t want to intrude on anyone, so she continued to sit and watch people.

It wasn’t long before Alex caught her eye. He was near the treeline, far away from her, but he was hard to miss with Haley prancing around him. He started walking towards her, evidently telling the blonde something before he left.

“Hey,” he said when he reached her, sitting beside her. “I’m glad you came! You look nice.”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Flower King. I’m kind of regretting it already.”

“Aw, come on, have a little fun,” he said. He got up. “We can dance.”

“I thought you said Haley wouldn’t like that,” she replied, cocking an eyebrow and looking up at him defiantly. “Also, I can’t dance.”

“Don’t be difficult.” He took her hand and pulled her up.

“No one else is dancing,” she whined, but quickly saw that wasn’t true. Robin had been joined by Demetrius and they were dancing, and it looked like Emily was dancing on her own.

“We’re dancing,” Alex said firmly. He didn’t lead her to the middle of the clearing, thankfully, but steered her away from the table. “It’s not that hard. You can put your hand on my shoulder.”

She did as she was told and he put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer to a less awkward distance. They began to move in a circle.

“This is pointless,” she said, humour in her voice. “We’re just playing ring around the rosy here.”

He laughed. “Stop being such a crank, Quinn.”

Their eyes met and she smiled. He smiled back. They continued dancing.

“Alright, aright, I think that’s enough.”

Quinn looked away from Alex to meet the eyes of Haley, standing in front of them with her arms crossed.

“You said a minute, Alex, so it’s time to come back.”

Alex sighed. “Sorry, Quinn.”

He left with Haley. Quinn watched them go, her eyes threatening to roll backwards permanently.

She sat back down on the bench to mope once more. The Mayor announced that the “big dance” was coming up shortly, meaning that Quinn would have no one to dance with. She moped harder.

Shane, who had appeared out of nowhere, joined her a few moments later.

“Hey,” he said as he sat. “I didn’t think I’d see you here.”

“I didn’t think I’d see _you_ here,” she replied, genuinely surprised to see him. The Flower Dance didn’t seem like something Shane would be into. He shrugged.

“I come every year. Jas likes it. I don’t.”

Quinn considered this. “Do you want to be my dance partner?”

“You want to be my partner… for the Flower Dance…?”

“Uh, yes, that’s why I asked,” she replied.

“Okay,” he said. “I look forward to it.”

She was a bit surprised with his response and honestly expected him to say no. She had actually hoped he would say no. That way, if she was asked about it, she could say that she tried her best to find someone to dance with, but couldn’t.

“Just let me get at some of this food first. I can’t say no when it’s sitting right in front of me.”

The Shane in front of her was completely different from what she saw last night and she wasn’t sure how genuine he was being, but she didn’t say anything. Perhaps he was trying to forget.

He finished eating as the Mayor announced that the actual Flower Dance was about to start. Shane and Quinn made their way to the other dancers. Quinn felt nervous.

“I don’t know the Flower Dance,” she said to Shane. “Is it different than regular dancing?”

Shane took her waist and shook his head. “Not really. It’s really just a specific song that they play while people stare. I don’t understand this tradition.”

Uppity music started playing and Shane started leading her. They covered more ground than she had when dancing with Alex, and she was amazed at how good Shane was at it.

“I hadn’t pegged you as a dancer,” she said. “Shane, do you secretly _like_ the Flower Dance?”

The faint blush that appeared on Shane’s face told her she was right. She stared, wide eyed, and giggled.

“I wouldn’t have expected that,” she said. He spun her around and pulled her closer this time.

“Don’t tell a soul,” he said in a quiet voice. She folded her lips in with a smile.

“Your secret is safe with me.”

The song ended and Shane let her go rather abruptly. “Thanks for dancing with me.”

“You were a surprisingly great partner,” she replied, shoving an elbow to his arm. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Shane looked at her with a somewhat pained expression and changed the subject. “Quinn… can we forget about last night?”

She studied his face. The bags under his eyes were bigger than usual, and the eyes themselves were slightly bloodshot. He looked _sad._

“Consider it forgotten,” she said softly. “But… If you need-“

He cut her off. “I don’t want to hear it. I’m not talking about it. It was a mistake and I’m sorry.”

She bit her lip a little. “Don’t be. It happens.”

He looked at her again like a hurt puppy. “I’ll see you around.”

She watched him leave and couldn’t help but feel like she had said something wrong. Despite what he had said, Quinn knew that all he needed was a friend, whether he knew that or not.

Haley was being crowned Flower Queen, but Quinn didn’t want to stay. Thankful she didn’t have to make up an excuse to anyone, she left the clearing with thoughts of her bed dancing in her brain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Shane. Truly, I do. He's just so hard to write. I have experience with mental illness, but moreso anxiety than depression so I have a hard time with Shane. I apologize deeply if it's not realistic to his character. Also, I'm super into the idea of Shane being a good dancer. He's a good boy.  
> I'm going to start inserting more heart events with people. I really like them. Hopefully you don't think I'm too lazy for that :)


	6. Joja

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We all have our things. Yours is just a greedy megacorporation threatening to run Abby’s dad out of town. No biggie."  
> Or:  
> Quinn finally realizes that there's a JojaMart in town. Also, awkward conversations with Doctor Harvey and Maru.

Summer took over from spring almost aggressively. When Quinn stepped outside on the first day of the new season, a wall of humidity hit her in the face and left her breathless. She made a mental note to see if Robin could outfit her house with an air conditioner.

Despite the heat, she made quick work of the patches of what was left of her spring crops. She was sad to see them go. The late crops had netted her quite a bit of extra cash, and she was thankful that she had invested in them.

With nothing else to do before Pierre’s opened, she decided to bring some of the potatoes had harvested the day before over to Marnie’s Ranch. Marnie had mentioned offhand one day that she was never able to keep enough in her kitchen with both Shane and Jas around.

Plus, she wanted to check up on Shane. She had barely heard from him since the Flower Dance, besides a hurried hello the last time she was at the Saloon. She had wanted to talk to him, but was there to meet Leah for dinner, who called her over as soon as she walked in.

She happily packed a basket and shouldered her backpack and set off. Shane probably didn’t like surprise visits, but she would do what she did best and force her friendship on him anyway.

When she arrived at the Ranch, Marnie told her Shane was at work. She didn’t say where it was that he worked, but told Quinn it was past Pierre’s on the same side of the river as Clint’s shop and the museum. She decided she’d visit him after stocking up on seeds from Pierre.

The shopkeeper was delighted to see Quinn as he touted his new summer seeds. He explained what she needed for each, and she bought some of everything. Waving goodbye to Pierre, she left the shop and headed towards the bridge.

As she made her way to what she assumed would be Shane’s work, a faint whirring noise was picked up by the wind, getting louder and louder with every step. It sounded like an industrial sized air conditioner.

She slowed down as a familiar scent filled the air. She didn’t know how to describe it, but it smelled a lot like –

“Joja?”

Quinn stopped walking and looked before her in horror. The blue of the building burned her eyes as she gazed upon the corporation that had drained her enjoyment for life and had sucked three years from her.

She felt her legs buckle underneath her as her backpack slipped off and her hands met the dirt. She felt sick to her stomach and had to work to bite back anything that came back up from breakfast.

“This isn’t happening,” she said into her knees. “I don’t believe that this is happening. I’m having a nightmare. Go away. Go away.”

Her eyes started to sting with frustrated tears. _I moved away to get away from this evil company. How did it follow me here?_

The voice in the back of her head was trying to reason with the voice having a mental breakdown in front of her former employer; that someone could find her like this and it wouldn’t look very good, but she didn’t care.

As to be expected by this point, the person that found her was Sam.

He wordlessly helped her up and picked up her backpack. He led her over to the fence behind Clint’s shop so she could sit.

“Do you always have to be around to see my most embarrassing moments?” she asked through tears.

Sam smiled. “I’m a wrong place at the wrong time kind of guy, I guess. What happened today?”

“Joja,” Quinn replied dryly, as a hiccup followed. “I…I thought I could get away but it’s everywhere.”

“Did you not see it here before?” Sam asked, his tone a little incredulous. He softly wiped away the tear running down her face. “Joja’s been trying to run Pierre out of town for like, two years.”

“Maybe I just have a mental block. Sam, Joja is evil, I worked there for three years, I’ve seen it…”

Sam shrugged. “Yeah, I know. I work there too.”

Quinn unintentionally recoiled away from him, almost as if he was poison. Sam continued talking as if he hadn’t noticed.

“It’s actually not too bad, the quality of everything is absolute garbage and the prices aren’t as much better as Morris says they are, but I mean, it’s a living, I guess. Better than nothing.”

Quinn laughed hollowly. _Better than nothing._ That’s exactly what she had said to herself on her first day at Joja. Oh, how foolish she had been…

“Anyway, you should maybe head out or something, you’re looking kind of sick…” Sam was still talking. “I can ask my mom to bring you some parsnip soup or something, I know she still has some she made from the parsnips you gave her.”

She nodded in agreement, not entirely aware of her actions. She had no idea that seeing JojaCorp in Pelican Town would have this effect on her, and she hated it. Sam helped her up and sent her in the direction of her farm.

“I’m sorry you had to see that, Sam,” she said. Sam’s face softened.

“Don’t even worry about it. We all have our things. Yours is just a greedy megacorporation threatening to run Abby’s dad out of town. No biggie.”

* * *

 “I know this isn’t the place you really want to be right now, Quinn, but a few people have come to me concerned about your wellbeing…”

Quinn was sitting in Harvey’s office, the Doctor directly across from her. Their knees were almost touching, something that was making her stomach do cartwheels. He had sent her a letter the day before requesting that she come in to see him for a simple checkup.

“What do you mean?” She tried to keep her face casual. The story of her breakdown in front of JojaMart on Monday had made its rounds. Pierre sent her a large basket of items to stock her fridge with, saying that Joja gave him nightmares, and she just knew Jodi was whispering about her.

“You’ve been working extremely hard, Quinn,” Harvey replied. “It’s normal to feel burnt out. What happened on Monday is a pretty clear case of you working yourself too much.”

“No, Doctor, I –” she tried to argue, but Harvey held up a hand to stop her.

“I’ve seen this before. I’m no expert in mental health, but I know when someone is overworking herself when I see it. You need to take a break.”

“It’s _Joja,”_ Quinn argued firmly. “I don’t know what happened, but as soon as I saw that wretched building, I just… I dunno, snapped.”

“We all have something that we can’t handle,” Harvey said, reminding her of Sam. “Maybe stay away from Joja for a while, yeah? Oh, and the mines. The mines would be a terrible place for something like this to happen again.”

“It’s not going to happen again,” she replied defiantly, jerking her knees away from his as if it was punishment. “It happened once. Why is that such a scandal? Maybe I am overworked, but it’s nothing compared to what Joja does to me. My mental health is fine. I just spent too many years in that shithole for it to not affect me. It’s not rocket science, Harvey; I’m just a little over emotional. I’m fine.”

Harvey seemed unconvinced. “If it’s fine, why did Sam find you crying in the middle of the day in front of a supermarket?”

Quinn made a frustrated noise. “Don’t worry about me. It’s fine. I just wish this stupid town didn’t allow a JojaMart.”

Harvey tentatively took Quinn’s hand, as if it was a question. “It’s my job to worry about you. And even if it wasn’t, I still would. Your health is important to me.”

“Just leave it alone,” she scowled in response. “Can we finish the checkup? I still have things to do.”

Defeated, Harvey sighed and put the buds of his stethoscope into his ears and set the chest piece just above Quinn’s breast. Having his hands so close to her caused her heart to beat faster and her breath to hitch in her throat.

“Hmm,” he said. “Your pulse is high.”

Quinn froze. “…I’m nervous in checkups.”

Although never a great liar, Harvey seemed to believe her, or at least he went along with her obvious fib.

“Just try and relax,” he said soothingly as he moved the stethoscope around. “I’m here to help.”

He had to have noticed how her demeanour changed from her first checkup after being attacked in the mines to this one. He got closer to her, touched her more tenderly, and she swore he was doing it to mess with her.

“Now, this one is a little tricky,” he said, sitting back on his stool, their knees now touching. “When was the last time you had a cervical smear? I know it’s in your records, but Maru has those right now.”

Quinn felt herself going red. She didn’t have an excuse to lie this time, as the answer was with the nurse just outside the door. “I’m… probably due for one.”

“I don’t perform these, of course,” he replied. “Maru is quite adept at it, so it’s her job. I can schedule you in for one, if you are free anytime soon.”

Quinn sunk in her seat, pushing Harvey’s legs closer to his body. “Do I have to get one?”

“You know I’m going to tell you yes, Quinn,” he answered, putting a hand on her knee. “They’re really nothing to be afraid of, and prevention is important. It’s better to be in here and uncomfortable for a moment than be in here dying of cervical cancer.”

“Wow, thanks Doc. That really cheered me up.”

Harvey grinned. “Just making sure you know the risks.”

They sat in silence for a moment, before Quinn spoke.

“I should… probably get going.” She reached for her backpack under her chair and pulled out a small jar. “I brought this for you, by the way.”

“Are these pickles?” Harvey’s face lit up. “I love pickles!”

“Those are from the last green beans of last season. Let me know how they turn out. I’m better at making jelly than I am pickles, so hopefully you don’t get poisoned or anything.”

As she stood, he did as well and seemed to struggle with what to do next, settling almost half-heartedly with shaking her hand.

“Thanks, Quinn,” he said, looking embarrassed at himself. “I appreciate the gift. I hope to see you soon.”

Quinn stifled a laugh and left the examination room, running into Maru on her way out. She pulled another gift from her backpack, this time a small carton of strawberries.

“I was saving these for jelly, but your mom told me how much you love strawberries,” she explained, setting them on the counter. Maru beamed as brightly as Harvey did at his gift.

“I do love strawberries!” she exclaimed. “Quinn, you’re the best. Thank you! How was your appointment?”

Quinn turned red again. “I have to… um… book a… um… _pap test._ ”

Maru donned a knowing expression and pulled out a clip board. “I know you’re busy, but remember when you pick the date that I’m only here Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“Do I have to pick at all?” Quinn was desperate to get out of it. “I know you’re going to tell me I have to do it but, like, _do I have to?”_

“Yes,” Maru said plainly. “I don’t enjoy them either, but it’s better than dying of cervical cancer or HPV.”

“What is wrong with you people?” Quinn muttered darkly as she scribbled her name in a date square for the fall. “You’re all so morbid.”

She left the clinic and stepped into the hot summer air, her head swimming with thoughts of Harvey and HPV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a pap test done the day I wrote this chapter. They're hell, man.  
> Also, I know this is a bit slow to get to the point. It looked better in Word when I was typing it and I'll get to the point soon!


	7. Breakups and Bouquets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn does a dumb thing and learns about what people are trying to say when they give each other bouquets of flowers.

Alex was quickly becoming a regular fixture on Quinn’s farm. When Robin arrived early one morning to fix up the chicken coop, Alex was already there, chopping away at dead wood. Quinn had gone out to meet her, and Robin’s eyes gleamed deviously in the sunlight.

“I haven’t heard anything about this,” she said in a low voice, accepting the cup of coffee that was handed to her. “Is there something I should know?”

“About Alex?” Quinn asked. “I know how it looks, but he’s just helping me out. I have noodle arms, you know. I can’t split wood like he can.”

“But you can break those stones apart just fine…” Robin’s voice trailed off. Quinn blushed.

“You know he’s with Haley,” she hissed. “I also happen to be interested in someone else.”

She regretted the words as soon as she said them. Robin grinned, waiting for more.

“Don’t you have work to do?” Quinn asked her, defiantly. “Forget I said anything. And I shouldn’t have even said interested. I literally have a crush on everyone that’s nice to me, don’t read into anything I say or take it seriously in any context.”

The carpenter laughed, but started setting out her supplies to work. Quinn walked over to Alex, feeling relieved that he was out of earshot.

“I didn’t even hear you come in this morning,” she said as she set the other cup of coffee in her hand before him. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until tomorrow.”

He shrugged and hit a piece of wood, his axe coming down hard as though he was taking out anger.

“Didn’t want to wake you up.”

Quinn cocked her head to the side. “Is something wrong, Alex?”

He shook his head but offered no other answer as he brought the axe onto another piece of fallen branch. She definitely didn’t believe him, but thought it best not to push him. He had an axe, after all.

“I will leave you to it,” she said, backing away to her patch of melon seeds.

As a child, she loved coming to the farm to see her Grandpa, and more importantly, eat the fresh melons he grew every year. Though just planted a few days prior, the melons were already sprouting and healthy looking. She ruffled a few leaves with pride.

Next was her patch of peppers. She had been pleasantly surprised to find that they not only grew quickly, but grew back after being harvested. She planted more than she would probably ever need, but the thought of all the pickles they would produce put dollar signs in her eyes.

The sound of Robin’s hammer loudly tore her away from the thoughts of swimming in cash. Robin worked much faster than she had anticipated, already tearing away rotten wood and putting more up fresh.

Deciding that Alex and Robin were more than fine on their own, she decided to try her hand once again at fishing. She hadn’t fared so well the few times she tried, but didn’t want to give up, especially since she had just bought a new rod from Willy down on the docks.

Settling on trying her luck at the river near Emily and Haley’s house, she set out with her fishing rod in hand and a bait bucket rattling around in her backpack.

* * *

 Despite having a better fishing rod and actual bait, Quinn wasn’t doing so well.

Her problem wasn’t that the fish weren’t biting, because they were. She was just awful at reeling them in. She would get so close and then lose her grip just enough for the fish to swim away. It was frustrating, but she didn’t want to admit defeat.

The fish started biting less and less after a while, and her feet were aching from digging into the ground. She took her backpack and boots off, rolled up the hems of her overalls, and plunged her bare feet into the water. It was relaxing to sit like this, and she soon dozed off into a half sleep.

“The smell of your feet is probably why you haven’t caught any fish.”

Quinn lazily opened her eyes to see Sam standing above her, struggling with his socks.

“I never considered that, but it makes sense. I was wearing boots all day.”

The blonde sat down beside her and dipped his feet into the water to mimic her. He sighed contentedly.

“The water is nice,” he said. “I guess I can’t blame you for the smell.”

“My feet don’t actually smell that bad, do they?” Quinn suddenly felt self-conscious about the amount she sweat. If anything was going to stink, it would be her feet.

Sam elbowed her playfully. “Nah. Well, I mean, everyone has at least sort of smelly feet. Yours aren’t any worse.”

“Oh Sam, you know how to make a girl feel good about herself.”

Sam grinned. “It looks like you’re feeling better.”

“Yeah, and I wanted to talk to you about that actually.” Quinn’s eyes narrowed as she turned the upper half of her body to glare at him. “I had to go talk to Harvey because of you. Don’t tell him when I do embarrassing things. He worries too much about me and made me come in for a checkup, and now I have to get a pap test. So, thanks for that.”

“A _what?”_ Sam sputtered. “How is that my fault?”

“You told him what happened outside of Joja last week! He sent me a letter saying that he wanted me to come in for a ‘routine checkup’ and then bombarded me about my mental health, which is fine by the way, and then he asked when the last pap test I got was. Spoiler alert, _I’ve never had a pap test_ so obviously I had to tell him I needed one.”

“Couldn’t you just lie about that?” Sam looked amused despite Quinn practically screaming in his face.

“I can’t lie to a doctor with the looming threat of vagina cancer over my head!”

As she spoke, a fish bit the bait at the end of her fishing rod tucked in between her legs. She hadn’t gotten a bite in quite a while, so the movement startled her enough to knock her face first into the river. She quickly reoriented herself under the water and surfaced to a panicked looking Sam.

“Are you alright?” Sam was frantic.

The water was warm and pleasant. She found herself not minding that she had fallen in a river, fully clothed, in the process of yelling at her friend, and scared by a fish.

She laughed. “Come in with me.”

“There’s like, algae and stuff in there.” Sam sounded disgusted and wrinkled his nose to show it. Quinn splashed him.

“There’s algae everywhere, dummy. Come in.”

She swam to the edge of the river, her feet barely touching the bottom. When Sam went to refuse once more, she reached out behind his knee and pulled him in. He landed in the water with a splash. He made a dramatic show of resurfacing, which made Quinn laugh.

They swam around in the river, chasing each other and splashing playfully as though they were Vincent and Jas instead of themselves.

Quinn was enjoying herself, until –

“So what’s up with you?” Sam asked, treading water beside her. “I’ve heard a few rumours about how Alex dumped Haley for you.”

Quinn turned to him with a blank face. “What did you just say?”

“Yeah, my mom said she saw Alex break up with Haley this morning and assumed it was because you and him were, like, a thing now.”

“What?” She could hardly believe her ears. “Do you know that for sure?”

Sam shrugged. “Come on, Quinn. He’s at your house all the time and you’re constantly hanging out. We all saw you dance with him at the Flower Dance.”

“I danced with Shane,” she protested. “I danced with Alex for like two seconds.”

“Mom says you looked pretty cozy with him.” Sam sighed. “I’m kind of nervous for you, actually. Haley is… protective of her reputation and Alex dumping her for a farmer that’s been here for like, a month doesn’t look good.”

“Oh… Oh no.”

Quinn hoisted herself out of the water as quickly as she could. Sam followed her to the bank.

“Where are you going?” he asked as she slung her backpack back on.

“I need to find Alex and clear this all up -”

She was cut off by a hand slapping on her shoulder and turning her around. She came face to face with a very angry Haley.

“You are _trash_ ,” Haley spit in her face. “You think you can come to _my_ town and steal _my_ boyfriend? Well think again you skeezy little _slut.”_

“Haley, this is a big misunderstanding, I know what it looks like but nothing is going on between me and Alex.” Quinn was alarmed at how angry the blonde looked.

Haley scoffed. “Yeah, right, you disgusting bag of shit. I don’t believe you for one second. You are literally the grossest person I’ve ever met, did you _fucking hypnotize_ Alex into being in gross disgusting love with you?”

Haley continued to hurl insults at Quinn as she began to run towards the farm, hoping that Alex was still there.

As she neared the farm, she heard the sounds of Robin hammering away at the chicken coop, and in the distance, saw Alex.

 “Oh thank Yoba,” she said breathlessly, clearly not accounting for how winded the run would make her. She let Alex catch up to her.

“Quinn? Why are you so damp?”

“I don’t know if it’s more sweat or if it’s just water from the river, but come back to the farm. I need to talk to you.”

Quinn swore she could hear footsteps behind her and she instantly was bombarded with images of Haley’s sneering mug. She wanted to spare Alex from becoming a spectacle, especially from Haley.

“Oh, I uh, I need to talk to you too…” Alex sputtered and trailed off as Quinn’s hand closed around his wrist and practically dragged him back to the farm.

She closed all the curtains when they entered the farm house and locked the door. This likely looked suspicious, but she wouldn’t put anything past Haley in her crazed state.

“I ran into Haley,” she began, keeping her voice level. “She told me you broke up with her.”

Alex, who was sitting on the couch as Quinn stood in front of him, shifted a little, looking uncomfortable.

“Yeah. Yeah, I broke up with her. Well... as close to breaking up with someone that you were never officially dating, anyway.”

“She also seems to think that you broke up with her… because of me,” she continued. “Did you do anything to make her think that?”

Alex’s expression changed to one of guilt. “…Maybe. Let me explain.”

Quinn’s mouth formed into a straight line, but allowed him to continue without saying anything to stop him. He stood up.

“I can do better than Haley,” he said. “Haley is… manipulative, she’s rude, my grandparents don’t like her, and I was only with her because I was used to it. You’re right. She assumed that we were in a relationship when I never let her think that. She was too obsessed with her image to see that. You helped me realize what she was doing.”

He took Quinn’s hands in his own. She knew she should stop him, but couldn’t bring herself to. Something in the back of her head was pulling the memory of Haley screaming in her face.

Suddenly, she felt like being very petty.

“You’re special, Quinn,” Alex continued tenderly. He moved one of his hands to touch her face as he drew closer.

_Just do it._

_He’s right there. Do it._

Alex was still talking but Quinn could barely hear him due to the voice in the back of her head getting louder.

_You know exactly how long it’s been._

_Do it. There’s no better time._

_Haley deserves to suffer for what she said to you._

_DO IT._

Without further thought, she grabbed Alex’s face and practically smashed her mouth onto his. He drew back slightly, surprised, but only for a second. His free hand moved to cradle the small of her back, grabbing the damp denim of her overalls. Her arms held each other atop his shoulders.

If she was capable of being reasonable at a time like this, Quinn would have stopped him and apologized. Even incapable of such reason, she knew she was leading him on. Not to mention that she was basically only kissing him to spite Haley. She didn’t feel as guilty as she probably should.

“Did you tell Haley you were breaking up with her because of me?” She pulled away from him, her breath hot on his mouth. “For me? Answer the question this time.”

He kissed her again, his lips hungry on hers. “I think we both know the answer to that.”

“I’m glad you broke up with her and whatever weird relationship you had,” Quinn replied, grabbing one of his hands and sending it creeping through the waist of her overalls to her breast. “You’re so much more than what she made you out to be.”

She met Alex’s gaze as his hand tightened over her tattered, damp bra. His eyes showed desire, which, despite how unattached she wanted to remain, tied her stomach into a knot and sent it lurching forward.

He said nothing, but began pushing her in the direction of her bedroom.

* * *

 Quinn couldn’t deny how guilty she felt, now that it was days after Alex had spent the night. She tried to avoid him now, but in a town as small as theirs, it was hard.

She had a hard time saying no to people, and she had a hard time breaking things off. Back in the city, it got her in trouble. In Pelican Town, it made people gossip. Despite the whispers she heard, she forced herself to go along with Alex, hoping that it would fizzle out quickly.

He had taken to gifting her things, such as cookies made by his grandmother and once a bouquet of flowers. She couldn’t understand why, but he was triumphant when she accepted the bouquet.

His affection made her feel stifled, and she needed someone else to focus on. She didn’t like to use her phone often, but she sent a desperate text message to Sam one afternoon that Alex wasn’t at the farm chopping wood, and he answered by inviting her to Sebastian’s house in the mountains. He was already there, as was Abigail. Seeing no other option (other than Emily, who was working, or Leah, who was constantly impossible to find), she accepted and made her way up the mountain.

Robin let her in when she arrived, pointing to Sebastian’s room. She had asked again about Alex, and Quinn again assured her that nothing was going on. Robin was unconvinced, but let it go.

When she entered the room, Sebastian and Sam were sitting around a table playing a game of Solarian Chronicles. They had previously invited Quinn to play with them, but she had a hard time grasping the rules and was content to just watch. Abigail was lounging on the couch, her nose in a handheld game console.

Sam greeted her happily, and Abby made room for her on the other end of the couch. She put the handheld down and leaned forward close to Quinn, her chin in her hands.

“What’s going on with you and Alex?” Straight to the point, as always.

Quinn groaned as she sank into her seat. “Yoba, Abby, I’m trying to get away from that right now. Nothing. Nothing is going on. It’s all some stupid misunderstanding and I’m pretty sure Haley made it all up. He comes over sometimes, but that’s my fault. I accidentally led him on. It’s not like he’s my boyfriend or anything, I don’t _actually_ like him.”

“But he gave you a bouquet,” Abby replied, her brow knitting together. “And you took it. So, you’re dating. He is your boyfriend.”

“Wait, what?” Quinn’s head snapped up, suddenly alert and serious. “What do you mean?”

“When you give someone a bouquet, like Alex gave to you, and they accept it, like you did, it means they’re dating,” Sebastian piped up, not taking his eyes off the cards in his hand. “Didn’t anyone tell you that?”

A look of horror crossed Quinn’s face, which revealed to her three friends that no one had informed her what bouquets meant. Their expressions (including Sebastian, who finally tore himself away from the game) were a mix of pity and concern.

“So, let me get this straight,” Abby said. “You are technically dating, yes, Quinn, you’re dating, but… you don’t want to? And you… accidentally led him on? How do you do that by accident?”

Quinn struggled to find words. She felt sick. “Well… I mean we… uh, we…”

“Hooked up?” Sebastian offered dryly and unhelpfully.

“I didn’t mean to, I swear,” Quinn replied quickly. “It just… happened, he was there, and then he was… I was… And I mean, I couldn’t say no… and it had just been _so long_ for me…”

She looked at her friends desperately. She knew that implying that she hadn’t had sex in a while wasn’t a good excuse for leading Alex on, but it was all she had to put up as an explanation. Something told her that trying to explain that her brain made her do it to spite Haley would be worse.

“I don’t know what to do.”

She felt small, as though the guilt was eating her from the legs up and not much was left of her.

“The person who gave you the bouquet doesn’t have to be the only person you’re dating at a time,” Sam started slowly, as though he was considering his words carefully. “You can give more than one person a bouquet and date them all and it’s not, like, bad or anything.”

“People still talk about it,” Abby interjected. “It’s not bad, but no one thinks it’s exactly good either. You know what everyone is like.”

"People talk about everything, though," Sam argued. "That's nothing new."

"But they'd have something new to talk about -" Abby was cut off.

“Can I give someone else a bouquet or not?” Quinn’s head was spinning.

“Technically yes. Morally, probably not.”

Quinn groaned. “Abby… you’re not helping. I also don’t have anyone to give another bouquet to anyway. This is a disaster. I let my horny brain do the thinking and I should have known that it _always_ makes the wrong decision.”

“For the next time this happens, there are people in this town who would have sex with you without shoving a bouquet at you after,” Sebastian said, as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

“Like who?” Abby asked incredulously. When Quinn shot her a dirty look, she added, “not that I’m arguing. I’m just wondering if he knows something that we don’t.”

Sebastian shrugged. “I’m just saying. You could find someone.”

Quinn sighed. “You guys are making it seem like I just came out here to fuck. For the record, I didn’t. I don’t need to find someone. I need to _get rid_ of someone. I should just give everyone a bouquet. Send a strong message that I’m in love with _everyone._ ”

“I don’t think that’s quite the message that you’d be sending,” Abby said. “If you think that’ll work, go for it. But it’s easier to just tell him the truth, you know.”

“Yeah, but if I tell the truth, then I don’t get to date everyone,” Quinn shot back, her voice taking a devious tone. “Where’s the fun in that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finally gotten to the point :)  
> Alex is one of my favourite bachelors but he's so boring after you marry him. Why does he have to spend so much money on new shorts? Why does he need so many? Where is the money coming from??   
> Also, it may not look like it, but I actually love Haley and hate that she's my antagonist here but like... it's so easy.


	8. Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane asks Quinn why she left the city.

Quinn struggled with what the purpose of the bouquets were.

When she went to buy several from Pierre, he kindly explained that she would have to wait until she was sure that the other person would accept the bouquet. It was a little overwhelming to Quinn to have that kind of foresight, but she promised Pierre she would do her best.

Sam had called the plan “Operation: Date the Whole Town.” There wasn’t much of a strategy besides dating everyone close to her age, but Quinn liked it nonetheless.

“You do realize this means that I’ll be giving each of you a bouquet eventually, right?” she had asked her three friends the night before, doubtful about what they would say, but all three of them agreed. That set Quinn’s mind alight with conspiracy theories that the three of them were exactly as awkward as she was and would fall in love with anyone nice to them, but she eventually concluded that they were just being good friends.

Her plan for the day after the bouquet fiasco was to pop over to see Marnie to buy some chickens to live in the coop Robin had finished, and some hay to stock the silo that Robin was currently working on.

She wasn't too familiar with animal care past Trillium, but was willing to try her hand at chickens to see how she fared. Grandpa used to have chickens roaming free around the farm when she was a kid, and she really enjoyed the little birds. Grandpa never even had the heart to butcher them for dinner, and he had shared a bond with each of them.

Pulled back to the present by reaching Marnie’s Ranch (she hadn’t even realized that she had left the house), she entered to see no one at the register.

“Marnie?” she called to an empty house. “Marnie, I need a chicken.”

“Marnie isn’t here,” came a reply from Shane. “She has workout classes on Tuesdays. You can come back here if you want.”

“Uh… where are you?” She could hear the general direction of where Shane was calling from, but couldn’t actually see him. She stepped into the kitchen just as Shane opened the door in the corner.

“In here,” he replied. “It leads to the barn. I want to show you something.”

Quinn followed him into the barn where she was immediately greeted by several chickens. She bent down to pet the closest one, remembering how both Marnie and Shane had talked about how friendly the chickens were. The hen accepted the pets with a happy sounding cluck.

She looked up at Shane, who was cuddling a chicken of his own. She noticed that he looked _better_ than he normally did. He looked less tired, less drained.

It brought her back to the night that she had found him, face down in the mud during a downpour, wasted beyond his normal limit and musing about his life, and how it would end.

_"My life is a pathetic joke," he had said, sorrowfully. "Why do I even try? I'm too small and stupid to take control of my life. I'm just... a piece of soiled garbage flittering in the wind."_

_He let out an almighty belch, a sign that he had had way, way too much to drink._

_"I've been coming here lately, and looking down." His words made Quinn peer over the edge of the cliff. She felt sick. "Here's a chance to finally take control of my life. But... I'm always too scared to go through with it. Everything I do is to dull the feelings of self hatred."_

_He managed to pull his head up to look Quinn directly in the eye, despite the downpour._

_"Why should I even go on? Tell me why I shouldn't roll off these cliffs right now."_

_Quinn sprang from the ground, scrambled, and unsure of what to do. When she spoke, her voice was surprisingly steady._

_"The decision is your own. Just know... Shane... I'm here for you."_

_He stifled a sob with the ground. "I'm sorry... Quinn... I'm sorry..."_

_She didn't know what to do, but she felt her body lifting his as best as she could._

He had terrified her that night, and she wasted no time dragging him to the town square and pounding on Harvey’s door at almost midnight.

He drew her from her thoughts by shoving a chicken under her nose. There was something off about the chicken though –

“Why the fuck is that chicken blue?”

As if it understood, the blue chicken clucked back indignantly. Quinn couldn’t keep her eyes off it. It was horrifying and she had no idea how Shane did it.

Her reaction made him chuckle. “She’s my special blue chicken. Bred her specially.”

“Shane… how in the name of Yoba did you make a chicken blue? That… that isn’t _fucking normal.”_

“I’ll spare you the details, but it took me a few tries,” he said casually, as if a blue chicken was, in fact, the most normal thing in the world. “She lays regular eggs. She’s a regular chicken, just blue.”

Quinn shook her head. “I’ll take your word for it.”

Shane put the blue chicken down and it waddled away. She had a chance now to look around the barn, and noticed a new looking sign on the wall that said “fresh eggs.”

She pointed at it. “Did you do that?”

“Yeah,” Shane replied, his voice a little proud. “Marnie and I have decided to start selling the eggs at Pierre’s. We used to have them shipped off to the city, but I saw what was in a JojaMart egg. No one should eat that crap. I don’t even think they come from real chickens. We won’t be making as much from Pierre, but at least we’ll feel better about it.”

Another, normal, chicken had made its way over to demand pets from Quinn. The hen nuzzled her in surprisingly cat like behaviour. The sight made Quinn’s heart melt.

“That’s really good Shane,” she said earnestly as she sat down to pet the hen. “I’m really proud of you. I’ll buy lots of eggs.”

“You said you needed a chicken, yeah?” His voice turned slightly gruff, as if he didn’t know how to react to praise. “You’ll have your own eggs.”

“Don’t underestimate the amount of omelettes I eat,” she replied. “I don’t think one little chicken would be able to keep up with me. Besides, Lewis was telling me how my Grandpa Tom would make his own mayonnaise and sell it and I’m disgustingly curious to see how that works.”

Shane didn’t seem put off by the idea of homemade mayonnaise. They fell into silence that wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it wasn’t awkward either. Until –

“You used to work at Joja, didn’t you?”

Quinn raised her head, her attention turning from the chicken she was still petting (who was now in such a state of bliss that she had fallen asleep) to look at Shane. Shane was looking at her, leaning against the wall.

“I was an executive assistant to the CEO, yeah,” she replied slowly. “Worst three years of my life.”

“How did you get there so quickly?” he asked. “I mean, you’re not exactly old enough to have graduated college and worked there after your degree. Most people are in the call centre for three years. The stock guy who drives the truck from corporate has been at the bottom of the pyramid for six. I don’t understand.”

Quinn really didn’t want to be having this conversation. She had technically graduated from college, but it was a one year business certificate from a diploma mill, and it certainly wasn’t the thing that catapulted her up so quickly.

She tried to change the subject. “Shane, how old do you think I am?”

He shrugged. “Younger than me, I know that. But don’t change the subject. Is your dad a big wig there or something?”

“No.” She hesitated. “My dad is a dentist. He hated me working at Joja. And I’m twenty four, for the record. In case anyone asks.”

She was rambling. She felt comfortable with Shane, but she really didn’t want to have to tell anyone her secret.

“Seriously, tell me.” Shane was starting to sound more pushy. “I won’t tell anyone if it’s bad.”

She would have to tell someone eventually.

“I started working there just after my twenty first birthday. I did graduate from college, thank you, but it was just a one year program and I knew I wasn’t going to get far with it. I started in the call centre but I lasted all of two weeks before I needed out. I didn’t want to quit and look for another job, so I…”

She trailed off, but knew that once she started, she couldn’t just leave Shane hanging.

“I went to my supervisor. I somehow befriended him, I think he was just really lonely. I started spreading this stupid, stupid rumor that he was secretly working for a competitor. His supervisor heard it, found out that I started it and… well, they believed me. They fired my old supervisor and promoted me into that position. They told me I had a good eye for traitors. I got bored in that position, and basically did the exact same thing, over and over again. The idiots believed me every time.

It got to the point where the CEO noticed how fast I was replacing people who were supposedly all sorts of things and getting fired or sent elsewhere in the company. It’s so fucking stupid, Shane, but they all believed the bullshit I was pumping into their ears. The CEO decided he wanted someone like me to work directly for him, to be his eyes and ears or some dumb thing. And that’s how I ended up as his executive assistant.”

Shane chuckled at Quinn, who was hanging her head in shame at finally having said that all out loud.

“You were making it sound so bad that I honestly thought that the CEO himself had killed a relative of yours and offered the job out of pity,” Shane said, his voice light.

She looked up at him. He was almost smiling, the most she had gotten from him since she met him.

“Shane, I’m an awful person for doing that, I –“

He cut her off. “No, you aren’t. I can only imagine the salary you were getting. I’d do it too.”

“I burned a lot of bridges,” she said. “Every rumor was so _fucking stupid_. It was impossible to stop once I had started. I mean, after a while, it was like, ‘okay, how far can I take this?’ And it just kept going and going. I mean, it’s not my fault that their dumb asses believed the things I was saying, but… I lost a lot of friends just to get ahead.”

Shane sighed. “You have friends here now, Quinn. I know I don’t always act like it, but I’m your friend. It would take a lot more than starting a bunch of idiotic rumours to lose me.”

Quinn was extremely taken aback by Shane’s words. She really hadn’t expected anything like that from him. She stared at him, wide eyed.

“You don’t think I’m some sort of psychotic liar? Thanks, Shane. You’re my friend too.”

He shrugged. “I’m really sorry you had to see me the other night, by the way. Thanks for taking me to the doctor. He got me in touch with this therapist in the city. I can’t make it out there for as often as she wants to meet, but we can do video calls.”

Quinn felt a surge of pride. “That’s awesome! Harvey is great like that.”

“I also started drinking sparkling water instead of beer,” he continued. “I tried regular water but I like the carbonation better. Plus, Pierre sells some good flavours.”

“Not gonna get it from Joja?” she teased, knowing the answer.

“ _Fuck_ no. If I can’t even figure out whether they’re selling real eggs, what makes you think I’d trust the water?”

She started laughing. “Their bottled water is actually tears collected from the call centre employees. I filled six cases in the two weeks I was down there. JojaAir is chemically known as tear gas.”

It felt nice to joke about her former employer after getting what she had done there out into the open. It felt even better to know that Shane wasn’t judging her.

“So, changing the topic because I don’t like to think about Joja more than I have to, what’s going on with you and Alex?”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “He gave me a bouquet before I knew what they were. Of course I took it, they’re pretty. Now apparently I’m dating him. You didn’t strike me as someone who would indulge in gossip, Shane.”

Shane blanched. “I didn’t mean to. I was just… wondering.”

“Also, how does everyone even know?” she continued. “I’ve been questioned so many times like it’s the biggest event of the year.”

Shane shrugged, clearly regretting bringing it up. Quinn huffed.

“I don’t even like him. Now everyone thinks I’m a man stealer and I’m pretty sure Haley is going to murder me in my sleep. I just told him that he could do better than Haley and somehow he thought that meant me. I didn’t mean me.”

She looked fiercely at Shane, which reminded her of how they got on that topic in the first place. _Shit._

“Shane, I’m so sorry,” she said hastily, standing up and straightening out her pants. “I’m so proud of you. I know it’s only been a couple days but that’s something to feel good about. I’m sorry I made this about me. You’re amazing. You’re doing amazing.”

“You’re all over the place,” Shane commented, but Quinn could see a faint blush creeping up his neck to his cheeks.

“No, really, I’m really proud.” She made her way over to stand closer to him. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen the other night. I was scared. I was scared that you weren’t going to wake up.”

Shane raised his eyebrows. “It was that bad, huh?”

“I… overreacted a little bit,” Quinn admitted. “Harvey had to give me something to stop a panic attack, but it was pretty bad. But, I’m glad you’re okay.”

He gave her a shadow of a smile once again.

“Guess I’m just lucky to have you. Now, I believe that chicken you just walked away from would just hate to let you go home alone…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is based on a true story, as stupid as it sounds. This girl at the company I used to work for started these dumbass rumors about people and head office believed her so she got promoted super fast to replace those people. She got caught, though. It's literally the dumbest story ever, but I needed something for Quinn. She's not a pathological liar, she just likes to watch the world burn.


	9. Luau

Quinn woke up late the morning of the luau. She barely had time to throw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and grab the box of rice she had bought from Pierre after a rather disappointing harvest of crops so far. Everyone would know how half assed it was, but she didn’t have any other options.

As she walked through the town square, she was stopped by Alex, who spun her around after soundlessly walking up behind her.

“Let’s say we skip the luau,” he said. “We can go back to the farm and -”

She cut him off. “Alex, I promised the Mayor I’d come put something in the soup. You know he’s been shitting his pants about the Governor coming for weeks now, I can’t just not go.”

Alex peeked in her basket. “Quinn, you have rice. I don’t think anyone is going to miss it.”

“Be that as it may,” she said, giving him an indignant look. “I promised I would go. You can just come over after the luau. It’s not like we’d do anything different.”

She was being short with him and she knew it was unfair, but she couldn’t help it.

“Fine.” He walked with her towards the beach. “I’m not responsible for anything Haley says or does to you.”

“Why do you think she would say anything?” Quinn had her answer as soon as Alex’s hand found hers. “Oh. Right. Has she said anything to you?”

“She mostly just runs away when she sees me. I don’t know what that’s about. I don’t have anything to say to her anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

Quinn said nothing as they crossed the bridge and entered the beach.

“You look really good, by the way,” Alex purred into her ear. “It’s nice to see you in something other than overalls or a blanket.”

The last part made Quinn blush. Despite not actually liking him, there was no denying that she was at least attracted to him, and she enjoyed the things they did together in the privacy of her farm house.

“I thought Lewis was kidding about the giant soup pot,” she said as her eyes fell to the enormous cauldron parked in the middle of the beach. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a literal giant soup pot.”

“It’s crazy,” Alex said. They made their way to the stairs leading up to it. “The soup usually turns out pretty good though.”

She suddenly felt self-conscious about the meager offering as she poured the box of uncooked, unwashed rice into the pot. _It’ll cook in there. Get over it. Everyone likes rice._

“Alright, that’s done.” She came off the last step. Alex was holding his arms out, and she instinctively moved to avoid them, but thought better of it. She instead opted to sink into his embrace, however grudgingly. “What do we do now?”

“The Governor will try the soup in a bit,” Alex explained. “There’s other food, though. I wouldn’t mind checking that out…”

His stomach gurgled. Quinn cracked a smile.

He was right. The tables were full of delicious looking meals, and she saw Linus in the distance tending to a spit roast. They milled about the tables, talking to people as they went, and sat down on someones beach towel to eat.

“She’s not here,” Alex said casually. He rested his weight on the arm he had grounded behind Quinn. “I don’t see her.”

“She’s probably lurking behind one of these totems or something,” Quinn replied, her tone dark. “Probably plotting my murder.”

“She’s not that crazy,” he said through a mouthful of chilli. “At least, I don’t think she is. She’ll be fine. She probably has another boyfriend from another town by now.”

She didn’t reply, but scanned the beach. Sebastian was nearby with his back to them, probably sneaking a cigarette. Shane was occupied by the food on the table, free of any of the wine that was being served. Emily, Quinn observed with a smile, was dancing in her own little world. But no Haley.

Secretly, she was a little upset. The petty voice from the back of her head had been scheming ever since she ran into Alex.

“Ah, Quinn. I was hoping to run into you today.”

Elliot’s serene voice came from in front of her. The man himself was standing there, his long hair blowing slightly in the breeze caused by the sea.

Quinn wasn’t exactly sure how to behave around Elliot. He was a strikingly beautiful man, and to her surprise, was incredibly eager to be her friend. It was baffling to her, but she enjoyed his attention.

“H-hey Elliot,” she said, salad falling from her mouth as she did. “How were those crab cakes from the other day?”

“Marvellous,” he replied, flashing her a bright, toothy smile. “I appreciated you buying those for me.”

“Anytime. So, what did you need? I should have that produce you requested by next Tuesday or so.”

Elliot smiled again. “Oh, nothing. It’s just always nice to see you. I almost didn’t recognize you without your overalls and with your hair down. You look lovely.”

“Thanks, Elliot!” she said, her face hot. “You’re so sweet. Did you see the pomegranate wine over on one of the tables? I hid it behind some others to keep it for you.”

“ _You’re_ sweet,” he replied, starting to walk over. “You know that’s my favourite.”

After he was gone, Alex cleared his throat.

“You gave Elliot a gift?” His voice was stiff. “Do I have to be suspicious of you?”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “I bought him supper, Alex, he was literally sitting at the bar counting pennies. And besides, I read about those bouquets. I can _give gifts_ to whomever I want. Can’t tie me down.”

His eyes narrowed at her but he didn’t say anything, just continued to eat. Satisfied, she continued looking around the beach.

Her eyes fell to Harvey and Maru, who were near Linus and the spit roast. They looked deep in conversation and close to each other, much to Quinn’s dismay.

She knew better than to expect that the handsome Doctor would be into her. She couldn’t explain her feelings for him herself, but part of her was upset at the sight before her. However, Maru was his clinic’s Nurse, and who was better suited for a Doctor than a Nurse?

She noticed that Sebastian had now joined Abigail and Sam. She wanted nothing to go over with her friends for a day on the beach, but she felt obligated to Alex, regardless of how angry he probably was with her.

Mayor Lewis called everyone over to the enormous cauldron at that moment. She and Alex helped each other up off the beach towel and headed over.

“Well, folks, it’s time once again for the potluck ceremony,” he said. The Governor was by his side. Quinn could practically see how much he was salivating over the soup pot. “I trust that you all put high quality ingredients in the pot this year. We don’t want the Governor to regret his visit to the valley!”

He turned to the Governor. “Well, Governor, would you do the honour of tasting the soup?”

The Governor nearly jumped out of his skin in excitement. “Of course! I’ve been looking forward to this all year!”

He had a spoon ready, and dunked it into the pot. He tasted it, and Quinn stood with bated breath. She knew that it would be better for her if he liked the soup.

“Ah,” he said, smacking his lips. “That’s a very pleasant soup. The produce from the valley never disappoints!”

Quinn released her breath loudly. _Thank Yoba._

“Guess your rice wasn’t so bad after all,” Alex commented as they walked back to the farm house when the festival ended and the town had picked the soup pot clean. He was still insisting that they hold hands.

“It wasn’t my finest hour, but I managed.”

Despite the heat of the day, the evening air had a bit of a chill to it. She regretted not bringing a sweater and she shivered. Alex noticed this, and shrugged off his letterman jacket without hesitation and draped it over her shoulders.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Quinn half-protested. “Although I don’t know how you wore this thing all day.”

“It’s basically part of my skin by now. I don't feel weather or temperature through it.” His hand found hers once again. Entering the town square for the second time that day, a voice called out.

“Hey Quinn, wait up a minute!”

Sam jogged over to where Quinn was, followed by Sebastian and Abby, who did not jog. Quinn tried to picture Sebastian jogging, but couldn’t. _Edgelords don’t jog._

“Hey Sam,” she said, pulling Alex’s hand to slow him down. “Hey guys. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to you today.”

“No biggie,” Sam replied cheerfully. “We just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out tomorrow night at the Saloon. It’s been a while since the four of us played pool.”

“Oh, do you mean it’s been a while since Seb played pool and the rest of us did something that can only be described as not-pool?” Quinn laughed.

“It’s not my fault that I’m the only one who knows what they’re doing.” Sebastian took a drag from his cigarette.

“We have plans,” Alex interrupted, rudely. Quinn stared at him.

“I wasn’t aware of that,” she said. Alex pulled her hand this time, towards the farm house. “Sorry, guys, I guess I have plans. Maybe Saturday? Someone text me!”

Alex was walking quickly and Quinn practically had to run after him so her arm wouldn’t come out of its socket. She didn’t get to see her friends reactions.

“What was that about?” she hissed as they rounded the corner towards the bus station. “And what plans do you have that you didn’t care to share with me?”

“It was kind of a gut reaction,” he replied. “I don’t like the way Sebastian looks at you.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“He looks at you like a real creeper,” Alex replied. Quinn rolled her eyes. “Look, I’m just saying that you’re really attractive and I’m not the only one that notices.”

“I can’t believe you,” Quinn fumed. “Seb is my friend. He is not a creeper. Why does it matter so much to you?”

“I broke up with Haley for you – “

Quinn cut him off. “Yeah. After you told me there wasn’t anything going on with you two. You may have given me a bouquet, Alex, but that doesn’t mean you _own_ me.”

They were just about to enter the farm when Alex stopped.

“You’re right,” he said, sounding defeated. “I don’t. So you can just go fuck whoever you want now. I’ll be waiting.”

He turned on his heel and started back towards his grandparents house. Quinn was boiling. He was acting like a defiant teenager, drowning in angst.

When he was out of sight, she screamed in frustration into the night.

* * *

 She woke up the next morning from a rage induced sleep to her garden full of melons.

She had perhaps bought a few too many from Pierre, but looking out at the patches of the sweet pink fruit in front of her, she patted herself on the back for the foresight. Some of them had been from the very beginning of summer, and some had grown a little later with the help of some Speed-Grow.

She entered the farmhouse once again to put on coffee and send a few messages to her friends for assistance.

Coffee in hand, she prepared to tend to the rest of the garden before taking on the sea of melons. Luckily, most other crops were ignored in favour of the melons, so she only had a few handfuls of peppers and blueberries to pluck and about a dozen radishes to pull.

A lot of her seeds had actually come from people pushing the packets into her hands, having bought the seeds themselves, with nowhere to plant them. Jodi was especially bad for it, and Quinn had a corner of the farm fenced off just for her fresh produce. Aside from Pierre, Jodi was her best customer.

Footsteps coming from the south alerted her to someone entering her farm. It was Leah.

“I wasn’t exactly sure what you meant when you said you had a ‘ton’ of melons, but I see now. That’s impressive, Quinn!”

The Farmer beamed at her friend. Leah was a little elusive, but she had managed to catch her at the Saloon some nights, where they stayed until Gus closed the place just chatting. Leah was an artist and had shown Quinn the sculpture she was working on.

“Thanks, Leah! I figured I’d get some people over to help me pick them, and then you can take some home. I have more than enough. And I also have more planted. I’m going to make some jam with a few and then hopefully I’ll find Grandpa’s blueprints for a keg so I can make some wine.”

Leah perked up at the mention of wine. “I’ll take some of that too.”

Leah certainly loved wine, polishing off an entire bottle to herself every time they met up at the Saloon. She was also more adventurous than Quinn, trying something different every night.

“How’s the art show going?” Quinn asked. She had suggested an art show to Leah the last time they got together. “What have you been working on?”

“I talked to the Mayor about it actually,” Leah replied as she bent down to inspect some of Quinn’s crops. “He says whenever I’m ready, I can have one in the town square. It’s something I’m nervous about but I’m so glad you suggested it!”

“I’m bursting with great ideas,” Quinn said. “Hence the amount of melons so large, I can’t harvest them all myself and still have time to do any other work. Let me grab you a coffee and a basket to take some home.”

Leah loitered on the deck with the cup of coffee Quinn had forced on her while Quinn dug around for a few spare baskets.

“You can come in, you know,” Quinn yelled out to her friend. “You don’t have to stand on my deck like you’re not allowed in the house.”

“Oh, I don’t mind.” Leah’s calming voice was floating through the house like music. Quinn loved her voice. “I like to look at the trees.”

Quinn emerged with a basket full of smaller baskets, and the two got to work pulling melons. Leah took very few, and the ones she did take were some of the smallest.

“You can take more than that,” Quinn tried to insist, but Leah shook her head.

“I don’t want to take away from your hard work,” she replied. “These will last me a while. I’m only one person, Quinn, and I have a lot of foraged foods to last me anyway. These will be my treats.”

Quinn rolled her eyes, but said nothing. Leah did everything in her power not to impose or inconvenience anyone. Although the Farmer thought it a little excessive, she appreciated it all the same.

They took a break after finishing the last of the melons, sitting with their legs dangling from the deck in the shade. Quinn had gotten them both lemonades.

“Would you say we’re friends, Quinn?” Leah asked, sipping at her glass.

Quinn was a bit taken aback. “Of course. I’d even say we’re good friends.”

“Can I ask your advice?”

The redhead had turned to her with a burning look in her eyes. Quinn blinked in surprise, but nodded.

“I got a call from… someone from my past yesterday,” Leah began. “Have I ever told you I moved from the city to live here? I lived with this person for six years before I just knew I had to leave. I visited Pelican Town as a girl, and it felt right coming back here. Like I was finally coming home. Anyway, this person called me yesterday and tried to convince me to come back, but I said absolutely not.”

Leah took another sip of lemonade before continuing.

“Living with this person was a nightmare. They kept trying to convince me to give up my art to go back to school to be a doctor or something, which I have no interest in. They wanted me to put in all the work for the life they wanted. You know, a house in the suburbs, kids, PTA meetings… that sort of thing. I wasn’t ready for that kind of life. So I left and came here to pursue my dream of being an artist.”

They looked at each other.

“Was that selfish of me, Quinn?”

Quinn earnestly shook her head. “No, it sounds like it had to be done. No sense in being with someone who makes you give up your dreams. You’re talented, Leah, and I’m glad you moved here.”

“And I’m glad _you_ moved here.” Leah was smiling at her. Quinn felt warm, and it had nothing to do with the summer heat.

She remembered the girl she had “dated” in high school. Quinn had had crushes on women for as long as she could remember. Her “girlfriend” was just a good friend who wanted to experiment, but Quinn was convinced she was in love with her. It fizzled out after nothing more than a few small kisses, leaving Quinn wishing for more.

Leah finished her lemonade and put the glass down beside her. “I should go. I’m nearing my peak artistic time and I have a lot of work to do before the art show. Thanks for the melons, Quinn. I’ll be back for that wine, whether you want to part with it or not.”

Quinn grinned as her friend took her basket and departed the farm.

“I suppose it’s no use to pine over her all day when I still have work to do,” she said to herself once she couldn’t see Leah’s back anymore. “That chicken is going to be so mad at me for feeding her so late…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have such heart eyes for Leah.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Farming with no pants on is literally all Quinn wants in life.

Quinn named her chicken Zelda. Zelda, as it turned out, was a chicken with an anger problem when she didn’t get fed on time. Quinn stumbled out to the coop late one morning, and Zelda pecked at her bare legs as punishment for staying out too late with Elliot and Leah.

“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled as she picked hay from the dispenser and shoved it in the trough. “I’m a bad mom. Sue me.”

Zelda clucked indignantly as she began to eat. Quinn had to chuckle at her pet. Before exiting the coop, she pulled up the small door Zelda used to get outside.

Shane had recommended putting up a fence around the coop so Zelda wouldn’t escape, but the chicken was smarter than that. She didn’t even wander to the edges of Quinn’s property, and Quinn thanked her by planting some dry grass for her to nibble on. Shane was pretty serious about chickens, so she hoped he didn’t happen to drop by and lecture her for the lack of fence.

She stretched her arms up once outside in the sun. The heat wasn’t overwhelming today, and it was nice to stand outside with no pants on. She was thankful for the privacy of the farm – trying to do something like this in the city would have gotten her cited for public indecency.

She didn’t have anything planned for the day, and after the arduous task of watering the crops, harvesting the few that were ready, and pulling up a few weeds, she was glad for her lack of schedule.

She still hadn’t put pants on. _How am I going to go back to farming with clothes on now_?

Zelda suddenly started clucking her head off. She acted a bit like a guard dog, which actually made Quinn feel a little better about not having a dog. However, she usually made noises like that when someone was approaching, and Quinn was standing in the middle of the farm with dirt covered legs and _no pants on._

 _It’s my farm,_ she thought, the voice in her head providing backup for her pantslessness. _Plus, it’s not like I’m naked._

“What are you doing here?”

The person had turned out to be, surprisingly, Sebastian. Quinn was bewildered and couldn’t help but call the question to him. He was the last person she thought she’d see.

“Why aren’t you wearing pants?” he asked coolly as they met closer to the farm house. “And why are you so dirty?”

“Cause I plant my seeds in the dirt. Dirt is dirty. Also, this is my house, and fuck pants. What do you want?”

She had never actually been alone with Sebastian before, as she had never really been able to catch him without Sam or Abigail (or both) by his side. She had recently taken to associating them as one person instead of three.

“My mom is building something in the garage,” he replied. “She’s so loud. I couldn’t get any work done. Came to see if you needed anything.”

“Well, you can’t exactly help me dressed like that. Aren’t you hot?” She looked his entirely black ensemble up and down. At least he was wearing a t-shirt.

He shrugged. “What else would I wear?”

“Normal people clothes,” she shot back, rolling her eyes. “I don’t need anything, I just finished. Thanks, though.”

“Well, do you want to… hang out?”

Quinn stared at him. What did he even do when he hung out with people that weren’t Sam and Abby?

“Come inside,” she said eventually. “Let me put some pants on. Have you eaten anything?”

He followed her into the farm house and plopped down on the couch while she tugged on the same pair of shorts she wore every day. When she came out, Trillium was sitting in Sebastian’s lap as he pet her, purring as loud as possible and trying to headbutt him.

“She likes you a lot better than she likes me,” Quinn commented. “She loves me sometimes and hates me other times.”

“I don’t even like cats,” Sebastian replied, scratching behind the cats’ ears. “Normally they can sense that and stay away but your cat is something else.”

“So, do you want to like… watch a movie or… I don’t know what you do in your spare time. This is kind of weird to me.”

She began throwing together a fruit salad, not wanting to embarrass herself in front of her guest by trying to actually cook something, and dished it up into two bowls. She handed one to Sebastian and took a seat in the armchair across from the couch with her own bowl.

“Why is it weird?” he asked, shoving Trillium away as he began to munch. “I had no idea I made you so uncomfortable.”

“You don’t _make_ me _uncomfortable_ ,” she argued, her mouth full. “I just don’t know what to talk to you about. I don’t know shit about computers and you know how bad I am at Solarian Chronicles. And I know you don’t want to hear shit about farming.”

Sebastian considered this for a moment. “I suppose you’re right. I know a lot about you, but you don’t know much about me. Mostly because you don’t ask.”

“You also never say anything,” Quinn pushed back. “You sit there in silence while Sam and Abby do all the talking.”

“Trying to get a word in while you hens chatter is more difficult than you think,” he retorted. “Once the three of you get going, it’s over.”

“Would it kill you to try harder?” Sebastian was annoying her a little. “Interrupting one of us isn’t the end of the world.”

“Interrupting only to get ignored.”

“When have we ever ignored you?” Her face was starting to feel a little hot. She couldn’t really justify the anger bubbling inside her, but blamed it on feeling personally attacked. “I can’t believe you’re trying to pin this on me. Just admit that you never say anything, Sebastian, why are you making this difficult?”

It was a stupid, stupid argument they found themselves in, but neither seemed to want to back down. Quinn had inherited her extreme stubbornness from her father, who would be getting an earful next time they talked.

“ _You’re_ making this difficult. Why can’t _you_ admit that you’re constantly getting so caught up in stupid gossip to take interest in anyone’s life?”

Quinn glared daggers at him. “You’re fucking rude, man. I’m just trying to find something to do after you invited yourself to my house.”

“You’re the one that invited me in.” Sebastian’s tone turned playful, calming the rage inside Quinn a bit. “Could have told me to go home, you know.”

“I could have,” she mused. “I’m sorry you couldn’t have a conversation with me without arguing.”

He snorted into his fruit salad. “You’re forgiven for my actions.”

“So, I guess I’ll ask you about yourself,” Quinn said, pretending to sound bored. “What’s Maru like as a sister?”

“She sucks,” he replied plainly. “I owe her, though. Everyone likes her better than me so they spend all their time fawning over her and her accomplishments so no one notices me. I’ve had a very quiet existence since she came along.”

“How old is she?” Quinn asked. “How old are you? How is she a nurse? She looks like she’s like, fifteen.”

“She graduated high school three years early.” Sebastian sounded bitter. “Did an accelerated university nursing program, graduated two years early from that. I actually forget how old she is – twenty one, maybe? Mom lets her drink wine, anyway.”

“Even I feel a little shown up,” Quinn said with a smile. “Your work is more interesting than hers, though. I can’t imagine it’s fun having to sit behind the counter twice a week while the doctor does appointments and only getting to do pap tests and scheduling.”

“My work isn’t always interesting. Clients can be… difficult.”

Quinn groaned. “Tell me about it. People get it in their heads that they’re Yoba or something and it’s all downhill from there. When did you graduate college?”

“I didn’t go.” Sebastian’s expression was blank. “I know if I did, I could be making six figures by now, but I just didn’t want to be part of the corporate rat race, you know?”

“I’m probably not the best person to ask that,” she replied sheepishly.

“Sorry, Miss Executive,” he laughed. “I also feel better hidden behind a screen. I’m better at that than face to face interaction.”

“So, what are your plans, big computer guy?” She was starting to feel more comfortable teasing him.

“I’m going to save some money and move out of here, hopefully to the city.”

Quinn scrunched her nose. “Why would you want to go to the city? It’s loud and bright and everyone is rude.”

“There’s not a lot left for me here.” He shrugged. “I can’t imagine being one of those people who lives their whole life in a small town like this. All my business is in the city, I can’t see a reason to stay.”

She pouted. “I like it here.”

“Yeah, says the weirdo who actively decided to move here,” he teased. “I think it’s a good place for a certain kind of person, and obviously you’re one of them. I’ve been to the city a few times. I like it much better.”

“Visiting and living there are two different things, Seb,” she said. “But it’s your choice. Don’t let me scare you off it.”

They finished off their bowls of fruit salad and Quinn collected them to deposit in the sink. She returned to the living room and sat on the opposite end of the couch, pressed against the arm like an accordion.

“Let’s watch a movie.”

* * *

 She shouldn’t have expected anything less, but Quinn fell asleep halfway through the movie, like she always did. When she woke up, Sebastian was gone.

She moved to look out the window. It was dark outside. _Great. I slept the entire afternoon away._

With no daylight left, and a headache forming from napping too long, Quinn didn’t know what to do. She glanced at the time. It was only eight thirty.

“Weird that it’s dark so early…”

She settled on going to the Saloon. She hadn’t gone in a while, and was sure Emily missed her. She also wouldn’t have said no to Gus’s daily special.

The Saloon was practically empty when she got there. She felt a little proud when her eyes wandered to where Shane usually sat and didn’t see him.

“Hey, Quinn!” Emily said happily when the brunette entered. “What can I get for you? Gus has fresh Lobster Bisque on tonight if you’re interested.”

“I’ll get one of those,” Quinn replied, seating herself in front of Emily. “And maybe a glass of wine, too.”

“Coming right up!” Emily grinned and busied herself with Quinn’s order.

She looked around. Gus was leaning over the bar talking to Mayor Lewis, and Pam was in her usual spot. Willy and Clint had arrived not long after Quinn did. She was surprised to see Gunther, the museum curator, out from behind his desk in the library and sitting at a booth with sheets of paper in front of him.

Emily put a plate and a glass of wine in front of her. “I got you some wine Gus made with the strawberries you gave him last season! Tell me if you don’t like it, I have other wine here, not homemade.”

Quinn sipped the wine thoughtfully. She generally preferred white wine, but the biting sweetness of the strawberries was pleasant.

“This is great, Em,” Quinn said. “Hey, do you know if Gus has any keg blueprints laying around?”

Emily ducked under the bar and came up with a sheet of paper. “I knew he did. Are you going to make your own wine?”

“I’m going to try to,” Quinn replied as she started to eat her bisque. “I know Grandpa did a little, but I couldn’t find any kegs or his old blueprints.”

“Mr. Briar used to sell the wine he made to us,” Emily said, a hint of nostalgia in her voice. “It was delicious. He was great at it. I’m excited to see what you come up with! If it’s anything like that jam you make, I’ll be your best customer!”

Quinn smiled. “You’ll have to fight Leah for that distinction. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her I was thinking about making wine. She practically started drooling.”

“Ah, Leah.” Emily’s eyes twinkled. “You’ve been spending a lot of time together. She’s a good friend of mine. Isn’t she great?”

“She’s amazing,” Quinn replied, sounding more excited than she should. Her face felt hot as a blush crept up her cheeks. “She came to help me on the farm the other day.”

“You like her, don’t you?” Emily’s tone was devious. “When you talk about her, your aura changes. It does the same thing when you talk about Harvey. And Elliot.”

“Emily!” Quinn hissed. “I literally have a crush on everyone that’s nice to me, okay? That’s why my aura is changing or whatever. Don’t read into it. It’s not like anything is going to happen.”

Emily shrugged. “You’re bound to find someone that makes you happy, Quinn. How are things with Alex?”

When Quinn didn’t reply right away, Emily continued. “You don’t have to tell me. Your aura is changing again. I always thought you were an odd match, anyway.”

Hanging out with Emily was weird because Quinn barely ever had to talk - Emily had a sixth sense for what she was about to say. She started eating faster so she wouldn’t have to say anything further.

But then – “He hasn’t talked to me since the Luau.”

Emily looked concerned. “No? I saw him at my house the other day… with Haley.”

Quinn had no right to be jealous that the boyfriend she didn’t actually like was hanging out with the ex-girlfriend he lied about. She mostly felt annoyed that he was hanging around her again.

“She’s not good for him,” Emily said. “My sister and I are very different.”

Quinn had to agree. “Are you even sure you’re related?”

“Once you get to know her, Haley isn’t really that bad. It’s just hard to get to know her.”

Her supper finished, Quinn downed the rest of her wine. “When did he start coming over again?”

Emily thought for a moment, and then looked guilty for some reason. “…the night of the Luau.”

Quinn narrowed her eyes. "He doesn't waste any time, does he?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been wanting to insert Sebastian by himself in this for sooooooooooooo long :}  
> Also Quinn is a shithead who picks fights for no reason and I'm there for it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn tries to take out her anger in the mines. Predictably, she ends up at the clinic.

Quinn was back in the mines the next day it rained, determined to end up in Harvey’s office again.

As she slammed the pickaxe into every rock in front of her, she felt anger in the pit of her stomach getting hotter. She wasn’t even upset that Alex was seeing someone else while she had his bouquet, but the fact that it was Haley made her seethe.

“I can’t – believe – he went back – to that BITCH – “ Her cadence was interrupted by hitting the rocks.  “He KNOWS – I’m right – She’s POISION-“

She finally hit the ladder down to the next floor.

Discovering that the mines had old elevator shafts that stopped on every fifth floor was a blessing sent by Yoba. She had made her way down to a section of icy levels in the mines. It should have been cold, but for some reason, it was the same temperature as the rest of the mines, and she collected rocks and ore comfortably. She had even found a few gemstones in her travels, which thrilled Gunther and filled the empty museum.

She loudly cleared the next few levels without running into anything, to her dismay. She was ready to clear out for good when she heard a screeching noise from the distance. Pulling out her sword, she readied for a fight.

Hoards of blue bats were flying quickly towards her. She had faced these bats before, but not in such a high amount.

She screamed as loud as she could, just in case someone was walking by and could hear her.

* * *

 The door to Harvey’s clinic burst open. He was in his office finishing off some paperwork, so he was about to let Maru take care of whoever was coming in when he heard her gasp and say the Farmer’s name.

He threw his pen down and scrambled out of his office to see Abigail and Sebastian supporting the dead weight of Quinn, who was unconscious and covered in bites.

“We heard her screaming in the mines.” Abigail looked as white as a ghost as she passed Quinn to Maru. Harvey swooped in and cradled her limp body, hurrying in the direction of the hospital beds.

“She was easy to get to,” Sebastian told Maru. He sounded just as shaken up as Abigail. “She was about to be eaten alive by bats when we got there.”

“How did you two fight them off?” Even though Quinn was his main focus, he knew that bat bites were dangerous, and needed to make sure that Abigail and Sebastian were okay.

“They got spooked when they heard the elevator,” Sebastian replied. “Neither one of us got bitten.”

“Maru, I’m going to need some assistance. Thank you for rescuing Quinn.”

“Can you let me know when she’s okay?” Abigail’s voice was small. Maru said something comforting to the both of them, and they departed.

“I’m going to need to treat these bites,” Harvey said as he laid Quinn flat on the bed. “She’s unconscious for now, and bat venom acts as a sort of knock out drug, but I’ll need you to prepare some anesthesia in case she wakes up. This will require some surgery to extract the teeth.”

Maru flinched. “She really did a number on herself, didn’t she?”

“She did indeed,” Harvey agreed as he slipped on surgical gloves. “The bats can be nasty. Every so often, their teeth will shed into the wound and sink into the bone. Some of them are also dangerously venomous. I’m terrified to think what would happen if your brother and Abigail weren’t there to help her.”

“You’d never get to ask her out.” A playful smile worked its way across Maru’s face, despite the seriousness of the moment.

“Please don’t distract me, Maru,” Harvey said. He finished preparing himself for the surgery and tried to keep a straight face in front of his Nurse, but his face betrayed him and he blushed.

He worked on extracting the teeth and pinpointing any spots where venom had entered. The procedure took at least an hour, but Quinn didn’t wake up once. Harvey was a little concerned, but she still had a pulse, an excellent sign.

“I believe I’ve gotten it all,” Harvey said as he cleaned the wounds and hooked an IV full of anti-venom up. “If there are one or two left, it shouldn’t affect her, but can you please book her in this bed for at least another day so I can monitor her?”

Maru did as she was told. “She won’t be happy if her farm is left unattended.”

“Place a call to the Ranch, if you would,” he replied. “Marnie will be able to take care of it.”

He removed his gloves and brushed the hair off Quinn’s forehead, leaving his hand there afterwards.

“I knew you wouldn’t listen to me,” he softly told her. “But I will always take care of you. I promise.”

* * *

 Saturday morning dawned with Marnie banging on Shane’s door to wake him up at… six o’clock? He groaned.

“Farmer Quinn needs your help,” she yelled into the closed door. “Can you go up to the farm and take care of the chicken and water her crops?”

Shane sat up and literally rolled himself out of bed. He had a headache.

_At least it’s not a hangover again,_ he thought bitterly.

Since he knew his willpower would be destroyed the second he set foot in the Stardrop Saloon, he filled his nights reading with Jas, cleaning the coop, cleaning the barn, and playing video games. He wasn’t sure if the routine was giving him the headache at this point, or if it was simply the early hour on a weekend he wasn’t accustomed to yet.

He crossed the room to open the door.

“What do you mean Quinn needs help?”

“I got a call from the Doctor this morning,” Marnie explained. “She had an accident in the mines and she’s recovering at the clinic right now. They asked me if I could go up to the farm and do what needs to be done, but you know I’m getting too old for that.”

“What do you mean _she had an accident?”_ The panic was probably obvious in Shane’s tone, but Marnie paid no attention to it.

“Yoba, boy, just help the girl out!” She threw her arms up. “She’s the one who got you off your drinking, the least you can do is feed the damn chicken.”

Shane grumbled and shut the door, but his aunt was right. Quinn had done so much for him, and tending her farm while she wasn’t able to was literally the thing with the lowest amount of effort he could do to help her back.

He got dressed in something other than his Joja uniform, and headed for the door. His goddaughter stopped him.

“Miss Farmer got bit by bats,” she told him, snapping her teeth a few times for emphasis. “Is she gonna turn into a Bat Lady now?”

Shane shook his head and slipped on his sneakers. “No, sunshine, she’s gonna be fine.”

Hearing what Jas said happened to Quinn made Shane’s stomach turn. He had never been in the mines, but any idiot knew that the bats were dangerous.

“I just hope she isn’t hurt,” Jas continued. “She brings me flowers sometimes. I like her.”

“I like her too, kiddo.” Shane ruffled Jas’ hair as he opened the door. “She’s done a lot for me. She’ll be just fine. She’s a tough lady, you know.”

* * *

 Abigail had been pacing up and down Sebastian’s bedroom for what seemed like hours. They hadn’t gotten any sleep, and when Sam came in that morning, she and Sebastian both looked like the undead.

“Did you hear anything?” she asked him desperately as he closed the door behind him. “Is she okay?”

Sam shrugged. He had sleepily answered Abigail’s frantic call for information and likely tried his best, but he had no news.

Abigail groaned and sunk backwards into the couch behind her. Sebastian didn’t say anything.

“If it was bad, we’d probably have heard about it,” Sam tried to reason. “I’m taking the lack of news as good news.”

“You didn’t see all the bats, Sam!” Her voice was teetering on the edge of desperation. “They were about to eat her! I don’t know if that’s something a person can even survive!”

Sam looked to Sebastian as if to ask for backup, but Sebastian shook his head.

“There were a lot of bats.”

Sam exhaled loudly and sat at the table in the corner of the room.

“She’s tougher than some dumb ol’ bats,” he said. “You both know she is. If anything, I bet those bats went back to their cave or wherever bats live and _died_ because she’s made of pure badassness.”

That made Abby smile. “It’s true.”

She checked her phone for the billionth time since leaving the clinic. No new notifications.

She had practically jumped into Maru’s skin as she left that morning for the clinic, begging her to call the second anything happened. Maybe it was a little overkill, but Quinn was the best friend Abigail had ever had, and she didn’t want to lose her.

“What if she dies?” she lamented. Sebastian groaned.

“She’s not going to die, Abigail,” he scolded. “Sam’s right. She’s down for now but she’ll be back up in no time.”

“That’s poetic, Seb,” Sam commented, still trying to lighten the mood. “I should use that as a lyric for a song about her.”

“Don’t write a song about her,” Sebastian said. “That’s weird, dude.”

Sam threw his hands up. “I think she’d make a great song.”

“The best,” Abby threw in, trying to force herself to be optimistic. “Speaking of, has anyone invited her to our show next month in the city?”

“I was going to,” Sam replied. “I wrote her a letter about it because I know if I just tell her she’ll forget. She’s just as bad as I am.”

“She’s worse,” Sebastian put in. “She falls asleep _before_ the halfway mark when watching movies.”

* * *

 Just as Harvey expected, Quinn woke up suddenly and a bit violently. She thrashed about on the bed, throwing her arms around as if still wielding a sword. It took a few seconds before her body recognized that she was no longer in the mines.

Harvey had dozed off in the chair beside her bed the night before, not wanting to leave her side, although he refused to admit to himself that it was for more than just doctor reasons.

As her body stilled itself, he regarded her face. She was looking around as if in a daze, red marks still marring her cheeks. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but it was likely that the drowsy effects of the bat venom were still working, and her jaw fell slack.

“Hello, Quinn,” Harvey said softly. He cleared her forehead of the hair that had fallen in her eyes while she woke up. “I know it might be a bit of a shock to wake up here, but you had another mine incident. Sebastian and Abigail were there to find you, luckily.”

“I wanted to see you,” she slurred, her words making her mouth water slightly. Her slack jaw that didn’t seem to want to meet the other side of her mouth made the saliva drip out slowly.

If it were anyone else, Harvey would have been a little disturbed. But Quinn made drooling look… well, not good, exactly, but not as bad as it usually looked.

“What do you mean, you wanted to see me? You can see me any time you want to, Quinn.”

“I like when you take care of me.” Her voice was low and scratchy, her eyes were barely staying open, and she was drooling. “I like when you do doctor-stuff to me.”

Harvey chuckled. Evidently his theory about the bat venom still taking effect was correct. “I’m going to get Maru to call your friends, now that you’re awake. They’ve been worried about you.”

“Edgelords don’t worry.” She smiled dopily. “Seb isn’t worried. Sam’s probably crying.”

She started laughing. “What a baby.”

Amused, Harvey left her to it.

“I can hear her laughing,” Maru said as Harvey stepped into the waiting room. “She’s ridiculous. Did you have to knock her out?”

“It seems that the bat venom is a little more potent than I thought,” Harvey replied. He heard Quinn continue to chat with herself. “She’s… out of it.”

“I’d say she is.” Maru was smiling. “I’ll call Abigail. I thought she was going to follow me here this morning. She’s worried.”

“She’s not quite out of the woods yet,” Harvey said. “But she’ll be fine. I’ll keep her here to watch her bite marks. I’ve read some studies on the bats, but I don’t quite know the full effects. I don’t want to send her home only for an infection to start.”

The look Maru gave him was hard to read. “You could always just ask her to come back for a follow up, you know. You’re really obvious, Harvey.”

Harvey couldn’t fight his embarrassment and turned away from his Nurse to hide the blush. Maru was undoubtedly his best friend, but she knew him better than he cared to admit to himself.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He heard Maru snort. “You can keep telling yourself that. But everyone knows.”

He turned back around to say something, but she was behind the desk and on the phone. He settled on scowling at her.

* * *

 “You’re really dramatic. You should be in a play.”

After Abby got the phone call from Maru, the three of them had practically flown to the clinic to see their friend. Abby was currently crying and Quinn was petting her hair.

“Says the girl who went down into the mines and got attacked by bats for, what reason exactly?”

Quinn attempted to glare at Sebastian, but she was still riding the high of the bat venom, and she failed to look angry. Especially since she was drooling.

“I just wanted to hit some rocks,” Quinn replied, sounding like she had something in her mouth. “It relieves a lot of stress. You know, farming is a lot of stress. Melons are stressful. How do they grow so quick?”

She sucked the drool back into her mouth with a disgusting sound that made Sebastian shudder. He knew she couldn’t help it, but it was still gross.

“Did anyone tell Alex I’m in here?” she asked. The three looked between each other and they all shook their heads. “Good. Don’t.”

“Why don’t you want your beloved boyfriend to know?” Sam asked.

“He’s prolly’ with Haley anyway,” she said bitterly, spit flying out of her mouth when she said the blondes name. “She’s gonna break his heart. I mean, so am I, but I’m not a bitch. She’s a bitch. Man, I hate bitches.”

Seeing Quinn in her current state was amusing, despite the circumstances. Sebastian couldn’t help but crack a smile at her.

Sam kept egging her on. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m gonna date the whole town HARDER.” Quinn smashed her fist into the bed. “No one is gonna know what hit them. And he’s gonna look so stupid when I have like ten people on my arm and all he has is Haley. Except I might need to use both arms. I dunno. We’ll see.”

Ah, yes. Sebastian had forgotten about “Operation: Date the Whole Town.” He was surprised that she still wanted to go through with it. It had been so long since she mentioned it that he half thought that she had abandoned it.

“How’s that going?” He couldn’t help but ask.

She shrugged, which caused her body to tilt to one side on the bed. “I dunno. Abby’s dad told me something about magical feelings when you just know someone wants to receive a bouquet but I don’t know shit ‘bout magic. Or feelings. It’s hard, man.”

Abby groaned. “My dad is so weird.”

“And what do I do if someone says no?” Quinn continued. “That’d be… that’d be so embarrassing, guys. I’d die.”

“No one would say no to you,” Sebastian said before he could stop himself. Abby and Sam stared at him, but Quinn just snorted.

“Whatever, weirdo.” Her tongue was starting to loll out of her mouth, making her hard to understand.

Harvey entered the room again, shooing the three of them out.

“She needs to be monitored for adverse reactions,” he told them. “I will have Maru notify you when she’s released.”

Once they were outside, Abigail turned on Sebastian.

“You like her,” she said in an accusing voice. “I saw your face when she talked about dating everyone. You like her.”

“So what?” Sebastian challenged. “Sam does too.”

Sam threw his arms up. “I do not!”

“Sam we’re not in fucking third grade anymore, if you like Quinn it’s not the end of the world if you admit it.”

Sam sighed. “Fine. I like her. I’ve liked her since I met her. I go out of my way to try to hang out with her. I _masturbate_ to the thought of her. Happy?”

“I didn’t need to know that last part, dude.” Sebastian wrinkled his nose. “You’re my best friend, but _never in a million years did I want to know that._ ”

Sam shrugged. “You pushed me. You know what I get like when you push me like that. And I bet you do it too, don’t deny it.”

“Wow, can we not talk about masturbation right now?” Abigail interrupted. “She’s in the hospital. Have a _little_ respect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quinn is dramatic as fuck. I'm starting to hate her honestly lmfao.


	12. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does Quinn want? Beats the hell out of her.

The bat bites didn’t end up being any more serious than they already were, to Quinn’s relief. Still, Harvey kept her in the clinic longer than he probably needed to.

Not that she minded.

It was an almost domestic feeling, being in the clinic the day after she woke up. She regained her ability to form coherent sentences without drooling, and Harvey spent the entire day with her, even rescheduling an appointment for her. He insisted that it was because he didn’t know the full effects of the bat venom yet, but she was starting to suspect that there were other reasons.

Back on her farm, two whole days after she left it, things looked curiously taken care of. Her crops were watered. A few trees had been chopped down. Hay had been stacked neatly outside the silo. Before she could even ask how, Shane walked out of the coop, with Zelda trailing beside him.

“Shane?”

Shane looked up in surprise. “I didn’t think you’d be back today.”

“Did you do this?”

“The Doc called Marnie and asked her to take care of the farm while you were at the clinic. Marnie made some excuse about being too old or something, so here I am. I hope I didn’t fuck anything up.”

Quinn smiled, feeling warm. “That’s so sweet of you guys. I don’t even know what to say.”

Shane shrugged. “Least I could do.”

She wasn’t sure what to do next. Should she… hug him? _He probably wouldn’t like that._

As if he read her mind, he crossed the distance between them and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re alright,” he said. “I think we’ve worried each other enough for a lifetime.”

She laughed. “The difference is that I’m going to end up back in the mines within the week. I’ll bring a better sword, though.”

“You might want to go tell Jas that you aren’t Bat Woman sometime. She’s concerned but at the same time insistent that you’re going to be the Town’s new superhero or something.”

“Why would I discourage her from that kind of imagination? After all, we don’t know if I’m _really_ not Bat Woman.”

Conversation with Shane was so much easier now, and Quinn could hardly believe that he was the same person who told her to fuck off the first time they met. When he laughed at her stupid joke, her heart soared with happiness at how far her friend had come.

“You look really good, Shane,” she told him happily. His cheeks got a little red.

“And you look like hell,” he replied, gesturing at the bat bites on her face. “Seriously, what in Yoba’s name happened down there?”

She told him about the bats and how they had come out of nowhere, in larger numbers than she had ever seen them, conveniently leaving out the part where she had sought them out. He didn’t need to know about her weird plan to seduce Harvey or the anger problem that had put her in the mines in the first place.

He shook his head. “You’re insane. Wouldn’t catch me in that damn death trap.”

“Maybe that’s why there were so many bats,” she teased, elbowing him playfully in the ribs. “Cause you’ve never been down there.”

Another stupid joke made him roll his eyes. “Hey, I saw your boyfriend the other day with – “

She cut him off. “I know. I don’t know what he’s doing with her again. I can’t say I care that much, honestly. He can do whatever he wants. I don’t own him.”

Shane opened his mouth to say something, but apparently thought better of it, because he closed it almost immediately.

“Whatever floats your boat,” he said eventually.

“You’re all so blasé about dating multiple people at once,” she said as she leaned against the coop. “I wasn’t expecting that from a small town like here, but no one seems to be bothered by it. Sam says I should do it too. Buy bouquets for a few people.”

Shane shrugged, but didn’t say anything.

“Thanks again for looking after the farm.” Quinn sensed the end of the conversation was drawing closer. “I was expecting to come home to a field of dead plants and my cat eating my chicken. I really appreciate it.”

Shane shrugged again. “What else are friends for?”

* * *

 She still hadn’t heard a peep from Alex. It had been well over a week. She hadn’t seen him, he hadn’t called her, nothing. Everyone was telling her about how much time he was spending with Haley, and she knew it was some misguided attempt to make her jealous.

He didn’t even like Haley.

Was Haley trying to out-petty the queen of pettiness? Quinn winced at the thought.

She sent him a text message after Shane left the farm that afternoon. It was a quick, ‘r u dead?’ message, and she hoped she would hear at least something from him.

A million projects were strewn about the farmhouse, some never to be finished. She loved trying new things, but she wasn’t always so jazzed about cleaning them up afterwards. So they sat, forgotten, taking up room.

The only thing she really had a good hand in was making jam and pickles. Grandpa had left very detailed instructions on how to do it properly, and she was a natural. She often enjoyed eating the jam straight from the jars after they cooled.

She dug out the blueprints Emily had given her for making a keg. She still couldn’t find any notes scribbled by Grandpa about them, so she would have to go by Gus’s vague instructions instead.

She gathered the materials and got to work. She typically wasn’t great with projects like this, but was determined to finish at least a rudimentary keg so she could start making wine.

The sun had sunk below the clouds, and by the time she was done, crickets were singing outside. Truthfully, the keg looked like shit, but nothing leaked and she was able to stand it up without leaning it on anything. She was proud of her shitty wine maker.

She had ordered a wine making kit during a particularly ambitious night before she moved from the city, but had never gotten around to using it until now. She pulled it out of the box it was still packed in.

“No better time to try something new,” she said to Trillium, who was watching her through big yellow eyes.

Since grapes were out of season, the only fruit she had to throw in was an enormous amount of melons. Better than nothing.

“I didn’t say it was going to be good,” she snapped at Trillium, who had been following her around until she threw the melons in the keg. The cat meowed as if disgusted. “You don’t have to be so rude about it.”

“Who are you talking to?”

She hadn’t heard the door open, but apparently it did, because Alex was leaning against the kitchen counter when she looked back.

“The cat,” Quinn replied, although her pet was nowhere to be seen to back her up. “What are you doing here?”

“I can’t come see my girlfriend? It’s not like you lock your door.”

She winced slightly when he called her his girlfriend, but if he noticed, he didn’t say anything. He crossed into the living room to scoop her into his arms.

“I haven’t seen you in a week,” she said quietly. “You’ve been ignoring me.”

“Yeah… it’s been pretty fucked up. I know.”

“People seem to have taken up stalking you, you know. I think everyone’s told me that they’ve seen you with Haley lately.”

He looked guilty. “I… I don’t handle fights well.”

She broke away from him and busied herself with the keg again. “Clearly.”

She didn’t say anything else, and Alex didn’t either. However, he also didn’t handle silence well.

“Is that it?” he asked. “That’s all you have to say?”

“What else is there to say? This isn’t healthy.”

Alex made a frustrated noise. “I made a mistake.”

“Clearly,” she said again. “This is quite the situation we find ourselves in.”

“That’s one way to describe it. Look, Quinn, it won’t happen again.”

She turned to him, her arms folded. “I don’t think you’re in a position to promise these things. You’ve lied to me enough, Alex. But it’s… whatever. I don’t care. You do whatever you need to do.”

He was dumbfounded. “…What?”

“You heard me. No one in this town gives a shit how many people you see at once. You clearly have taken advantage of that. I don’t care. Like I said the last time we talked, you don’t own me. I don’t own you, either. You can see Haley as much as you want. But don’t come to my house and lie to me about it.”

“I’m not going to see Haley again.” He was firm this time.

“We both know that’s not true.” She was being dramatic, but she didn’t care. “All I ask is that you treat me the same when I see other people as well. After all, you’re not in a position to judge.”

She could have just broken up with him and made her life a lot easier, but she was enjoying this too much. Perhaps it was wrong, but she still felt it was unfair of him to push the bouquet that meant they were dating onto her with no explanation of what it meant, and then seeing his ex-girlfriend.

His mouth formed into a thin line. “Fine.”

“I’m glad we had this conversation.” She flashed him a toothy smile. “Now, besides Haley, what have you been doing since the Luau? I was in the hospital.”

“What?” he looked alarmed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Didn’t think you’d care. I got bitten by bats. Probably would have died if Sebastian and Abby weren’t there. Remember Sebastian? The one who you think is a creeper? Yeah, he saved my life.”

“Stop doing this,” he grumbled. “I know I fucked up. Stop it.”

“Fine. I did almost die, though. You want to know why I went to the mines? Because I was pissed at you. I didn’t mean to get attacked by bats, but I knew it could happen.”

Alex had had enough. “What do you want from me?”

She scoffed, indignant. “I want you to know you’re a dick.”

* * *

 She felt bad the next morning for not just breaking up with him.

Alex slept beside her, his chest rising and falling as he snored lightly.

_Is this about punishing him? Breaking up with him would probably be worse than this. How much more pettiness can I possibly handle?  
_

She felt sick all of a sudden.

They hadn’t done anything the night before, so she rose from her bed fully clothed. Without waking him, she slipped outside to start her work for the day.

Zelda was clucking at the door when she walked in, obviously eager for food. When Quinn let her out, the chicken zipped out and happily tore around the property.

She lazily watered her crops and picked away weeds while occasionally watching Zelda race around. She considered getting a second chicken, but Zelda was probably more personality than she could handle.

Alex was still asleep when she came back inside. Not wanting to spend the day with him, she sent a text message to Abigail asking where she was. She was at work. No luck with Sam either. Sebastian was busy as well.

Huffing, she changed into her shorts and a t-shirt and made her way to the beach instead. Perhaps what she needed was a day alone in the sun.

The sand was hot, and she didn’t have sandals, so she simply removed her sneakers and socks and hid them in the trees, opting instead to walk to the water with no shoes on.

The tide came in over her feet, and the ocean water was much colder than the air around her, creating a pleasant feeling in her body.

Having only been at the beach on two occasions before this (the Luau and when she got her first fishing rod), Quinn was a bit unfamiliar with the layout. She knew Elliot lived around here somewhere, but she had always caught him in town and hadn’t actually been to his house.

As she scanned the beach, she noticed a cabin near the river that flowed into the ocean. She assumed it was Elliot’s and made her way over.

When she knocked, Elliot’s voice came from inside telling her that the door was open and to come in. His back was turned to her and when she closed the door, he turned around, and regarded her with surprise.

“Quinn!” One thing she really liked about Elliot was that he always seemed genuinely excited to see her. “Please, come in.”

She moved to where he was, positioned in front of what appeared to be a writing desk. She knew Elliot was working on a novel, but he was very mysterious about the details.

“Welcome to my humble… well… shack.” He seemed a little embarrassed. There was no kitchen and it was quite drafty, but Quinn didn’t think he had anything to be embarrassed about. It felt homey regardless.

“This is my writing desk,” he said, gesturing to the desk in front of them. “It’s where I spend most of my time. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a writer. Have I told you that?”

Quinn chuckled. “Yes, Elliot. A few times.”

“Ah,” he mused. “Well, that’s why I live out here by myself. I figured a lonely life by the sea would help me focus on my literary aspirations. I was always told that I would never make it, never achieve my dreams. But when I look at you, Quinn, I can see it in your eyes. You believe in me. Now, that’s inspiring! But, I must ask… what kind of books do you like?”

Quinn thought a moment. She didn’t really read that much, and when she did, her eyes jumped all over the page and it was hard to focus. Reading glasses remedied the situation a little, but she found it hard to see everything else when she wore them.

“I enjoy science fiction, I think. Maybe a little romance. If you’re asking me for advice, I’d read anything you write, regardless of genre.”

Elliot looked pleased. “Interesting. I will remember that.”

“How much have you written?”

His face turned a little red. “…Not as much as I’d like. I’ve been presented with a bit of a challenge, I’m afraid.”

“Is there anything I can do to help? I took a creative writing course in high school. Not that it helps any now. I’m just saying. I know what a comma is.”

“That’s better than what can be said for some people.” Elliot laughed softly. “I appreciate the offer, Quinn. I’m just a bit stuck right now, if you will. My mind is beginning to run as dry as my bank account, I’m afraid. Sometimes I just wish I could… throw it all away and become a farmer, just as you have.”

“You could come live at the farm.” Quinn was now sitting cross legged on Elliot’s bed, as he didn’t have a couch. “There’s a little cave I could set you up in. Demetrius has some weird mushroom shit going on in there, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be a bother.”

“That’s very kind of you. Alas, when inspiration calls, I doubt being in a mushroom cave would help me very much.”

She shrugged. “I’m always looking for people to help me out. I can pay you.”

“Oh, I could never take your money, Quinn, don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m just saying, the offer is there. I don’t believe in slave labour either, so if you do come up, you’re taking payment.”

Elliot smiled pleasantly. “I’ll keep that in mind. I do have a question, however. This rose here is looking a bit sick, do you mind taking a look at it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quinn's kind of a bitch in this chapter but she's been stewing for a while lol. She's still "with" Alex bc she hates Haley and would rather embarrass her than be happy not dating someone she didn't want to date in the first place.  
> Also! Thank you so much to those who gave me kudos! I've basically just been writing this because it's in my head and has been getting annoying until I write and I super appreciate those who liked my garbled trash fic :) Dunno where it's going! It'll probably be downhill from here lol.


	13. Platonic... Showers?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam, doing nothing more than being Sam, brings Quinn together with someone a little unexpected and she attends the Jelly Festival with her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOO YEAH A CHAPTER WHERE I GET TO ADD A NEW PAIRING TO THE TAGS!!! YEAH!!!

As the end of summer drew closer, Quinn found herself focused less on her crops and more on other things. Like the enormous stack of unread mail in her mailbox, piling up from weeks of neglect

Her dad sent her a few letters, all enclosing modest sums of money. She set that aside her fall seeds and made a mental note to call her dad later. She had a few letters from various people, asking her for her help, which she put in a different pile, and a letter from Demetrius dated that morning.

She remembered the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies from her visits as a child. Barely able to stay awake that long, Grandpa had carried her to the beach to watch the luminescent jellyfish swim in. She honestly hadn’t thought that it was still a tradition, but was pleased all the same.

Thinking back to when Grandpa took her, she felt a tightening in her chest. It had been such a special time for the two of them, marking their last day together until the next year. She wasn’t sure if going as an adult would hold the same specialness.

A knock came at the door. She jumped, startled, but in the window of the door saw the shock of Sam’s blonde hair.

“I forgot you were coming over today,” she said as she pulled the door open. “You scared me.”

“What’s on the agenda for today?” he asked.

“Normally, I’d ask Alex to help, but he’s on my shit list right now, so you’re going to help me install some sprinklers. I can’t believe I haven’t done this yet, but I figure it’s as good a time as any.”

She hadn’t wanted to work harder than she needed to while the sun beat down hard from the sky and baked her skin. Today began with a slight nip in the air, and the temperature hadn’t risen significantly.

“And how in the hell are we going to do that?”

“Most of my field is empty now, so we won’t be disturbing anything. I’m pretty sure we just have to dig some trenches, feed hoses through to the little pond over there, and then… they work? Man… I didn’t think this through.”

Sam laughed. “We’ll figure it out. Seb would probably be better at this kind of thing, but we don’t want his delicate skin burning, do we?”

Quinn smiled and they began to work.

As it turned out, installing sprinklers was hard. There were lots of things that they hadn’t considered, such as the trenches needing to be deeper than they were able to easily dig, and by the time they were done, the pair were dirty, tired, and pissed off.

“I am never helping you again,” Sam said gravely, wiping sweat off his forehead and replacing it with the dirt from his sleeve. “That was hell.”

“Baby.” Quinn stuck her tongue out. “I need a shower. You’re welcome to use it before you go home, but the hot water doesn’t work for very long. So make it quick.”

Sam shook his head. “You go first, so I know how long I have.”

Not wanting to argue, she gathered some clean clothes and entered the shower.

She had really meant to ask Robin to help fix the plumbing, but never found the time. While she enjoyed long hot showers in the city, showers here were restricted and unpredictable.

She had barely been in the shower a full minute when she heard the door open and close, something hitting the floor, and Sam saying, “I really hate being dirty, man.”

The next thing she knew, Sam was in the shower with her, directly behind her. She screeched.

“Sam! I’m… I’m naked!”

She tried to pull the shower curtain to cover herself, but only grabbed the clear shower liner and hid absolutely nothing.

“I am too,” he replied, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. “Ya normally are in the shower.”

“This is weird. I’m getting out.”

“You’re still full of dirt,” he protested, grabbing her bar soap and lathering it on his arms. “Nothing weird about two pals sharing a shower. It’s only weird if you make it weird. Two friends having a platonic shower isn’t anything out of the ordinary, my dude.”

Although she really wasn’t intending on Sam seeing her naked anytime soon, the wet dirt that weighed heavily on her arms begged to differ. She also hated being caked in dirt.

Resigned to what was happening, she dropped the shower curtain and held out her hand for him to pass her the soap.

She spent the entire shower trying to avert her eyes from his bare skin. He would maneuver himself directly behind her, his front touching her back, burning her skin when he moved away.

“Sam…” she tried. He cut her off cheerfully.

“Thanks for the shower, Quinn! I’m all done. I’m gonna go home now.”

He exited the shower, leaving her standing there stupidly. She called after him.

“We’re not even going to talk about this?”

* * *

 Sebastian wasn’t paying attention to the voices coming from upstairs, and didn’t notice when the front door opened and closed mere seconds after it had done so previously.

He was also barely paying attention when someone knocked on his door, but looked up when whoever it was barged in without waiting for him to say anything.

It was Quinn, her hair wet and face pink. She had a bit of a stunned look on her face. He raised an eyebrow.

“What happened to you?” he asked. She shut the door behind her and faced him at his computer desk.

“Sam was just over,” she said. “We installed the sprinklers.”

“How’d that go?”

“Fine.” She took her hand and drug it down her face. “He was in my shower.”

Sebastian gave her a questioning look. “He showers here all the time.”

“I was in the shower at the same time.”

She was frowning now.

“So you… showered together? Why do I need to know this?”

“He just… he left. He didn’t do anything. And then he left.”

Sebastian had no idea what she was getting at, or why she was even telling him this. He felt a little uncomfortable, until she spoke again.

“Sebastian… stand up.”

He hesitated, but when she repeated herself, he did as he was told, pushing his chair out with the backs of his legs.

“Come here,” she said next.

His legs decided for him that he was going to, again, do as he was told. He stopped in front of her, and she looked up at him, her eyes wild.

“So,” he said in a low voice. “You see my best friend naked in the shower, but then you barge into my room. Why didn’t you just go to him?”

“I came here, Seb,” she replied. “I’d prefer to be here. Plus, do you really trust someone like Jodi to not walk in? At least your mom gives you some privacy. Jodi literally sets up a chair outside Sam's room when Abby and I are in there, can you imagine what she would do if I went over by myself?”

“You’d prefer to be here…” he repeated, his voice trailing off.

Without warning, Quinn removed her shirt in one fluid motion. She wasn’t wearing a bra. She didn’t wait for him to say anything before she took hold of both sides of his face and brought it down to hers.

“Yeah. I do prefer."

* * *

 Quinn was receiving nothing but radio silence from Alex yet again. She had asked him several times through text (because apparently he disappeared completely from town) if he wanted to go to the Jellies with her, but received no response.

When the night of the event rolled around, she was beyond frustrated, but went alone.

She was one of the first ones there. She made a slight detour before finding her own spot to explain to Jas that she wasn’t Bat Woman (however, when she saw the little girls' face fall, she couldn't help but add that she 'might be a different superhero'), but otherwise settled on the dock fairly early.

Despite the chill in the air, she removed her sneakers and socks and dipped her feet in the water. It was relaxing.

Soon enough, her friends arrived.

“I thought you would have been with Alex,” Abigail commented. She sat on one side of Quinn, while Sebastian sat beside her, and Sam sat beside him. “I’ve barely seen him lately.”

“If you’ve barely seen him, you’ve seen him more than me.” Quinn felt bitter once again. “Guys, I think it’s time to abandon my stupid plan. I should just give the bouquet back and call it a day. He’s better at this than I am.”

“You haven’t given anyone else a bouquet yet though,” Sam pointed out, and the two shared a strange glance. “How can he be better when you haven’t even started?”

Quinn sighed in response. “People deserve to get the bouquet under better circumstances than proving to some dumb idiot that I don’t like him.”

When she said that, Sebastian’s hand curled around hers, out of sight from the other two. It made her feel warm.

“For what it’s worth, I think you should do it.” Abigail was kicking her legs back and forth in the water. “I dunno, show him you mean business. You can still mean the other bouquets _and_ make him feel like shit.”

“I thought you weren’t on board with this?”

Abby shrugged. “I changed my mind. I figure it’s probably hard to see him with Haley, and you don’t even like him. He seems to actually like you, so it’ll be even worse if he sees you with… literally everyone else.”

“That’s very devious of you, Abigail,” Quinn said, pretending to be offended. “I’m shocked. A young lady like you should have better standards.”

“We all just want you to do what makes you happy.”

“Do you know who you’re going to give a bouquet to yet?” Sam asked.

Quinn looked past Sebastian to the blonde. Ever since they had “platonically” showered together, as he called it, Sam had been making nonstop sex jokes, and while some of them were quite funny, he hadn’t actually explained himself. It was driving Quinn absolutely nuts. It was also driving her nuts that Sebastian hadn't thought it was strange when she explained the situation the day before.

“I’m not sure yet.” She tucked the hand that was previously in Sebastian’s under her leg. “Probably one of you guys, though. Make it easier. Get my practice in.”

“You don’t have to practice asking someone to date you, weirdo,” Abby said, rolling her eyes. “You just give it to them and say, ‘hey, date me please.’”

“Won’t your dad think it’s weird that I’m buying so many though?”

Abby shrugged. “My dad gave a few people bouquets before he gave my mom a mermaid pendant. He knows how it works.”

“A mermaid what?” Quinn was confused.

“A mermaid pendant is a necklace that you buy from a ghost at the beach when it rains to tell someone you want to marry them,” Sam offered. “You can give a few bouquets at a time but only one pendant.”

“This place is so fucking weird.” Quinn shook her head. “Why can’t we just, you know, be normal?”

“To be fair, this is what’s normal for us.” Sebastian leaned back, his arms stretching behind him. One rested on Quinn’s back. “At least now you know about the pendant in advance. There’s no getting out of that.”

The four fell into a comfortable silence as they listened to the waves. The sun had set completely, and brought a chill with it.

“Quinn, you’re shivering.” Abigail busied herself with taking off her sweater to offer it. Quinn was about to protest, but noticed that Abby was wearing another sweater underneath.

“Why are you wearing two sweaters?” Sam asked as Quinn pulled the first one on. In the darkness, she could see Abby blush a little.

“I get cold,” she retorted.

“But aren’t you going to be colder now that you’ve taken one off?”

“How about you fuck off, man? Why can’t a girl just share a sweater with her friend without being grilled about it?”

Quinn chuckled as the two continued to bicker on either side of her. She leaned in to Sebastian’s body, gently, so Sam and Abby wouldn’t notice.

Sebastian brought her comfort. When she first met him, she couldn’t imagine herself becoming so close with him, but their friendship had hit her like a ton of bricks. Sebastian had first presented to her as an aloof asshole, and she hadn't wanted to spend much time with him. Being friends with Sam and Abby, however, had meant that Sebastian was a constant presence, and Quinn soon began to enjoy it as the two warmed up to each other.

They hadn't spoken about what had happened the night before, but neither of them felt like they had to. Quinn was grateful for that as she snuck out of the garage door after everyone in Sebastian's house had otherwise fallen asleep.

Sam’s little brother Vincent was on the other side of the dock, and he was the first one to see the jellyfish swim in. He excitedly screeched to get everyone’s attention.

Small, glowing jellyfish were swimming in towards the shore. Quinn couldn’t help but be amazed at the sheer amount of them. They were just as impressive as they were when she was eight.

Abby soon got restless. “Alright. I’m going to head home.”

“You’re not going to stay?” The jellies were still in the water, and Quinn could hardly keep her eyes off them.

“It’s the same thing every year. Plus, I’m tired. Drop my sweater off tomorrow when you come get some fall seeds, Quinn!”

She departed, followed soon by Sam, who was yawning obnoxiously, complaining about it being past his bed time.

The beach slowly emptied, and while there were a few distant figures still on the sand, Quinn and Sebastian were the only ones left on the dock.

Sebastian hooked his arm around the small of Quinn’s back and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head.

“Grandpa used to bring me to see the jellies when I visited as a kid,” she said. “They’re just as I remember them.”

“It’s funny that you came here when you were little, but we didn’t meet each other until our twenties.”

“I mostly stayed on the farm. I was a really, really shy kid. I think I only ever talked to Lewis before, but a lot of people say they remember me as a kid. Apparently I tried to ride one of Marnie’s cows when I was six.”

Sebastian chuckled. “The Valley is a nice place to grow up, as a kid.”

She turned her head into his shoulder so he wouldn’t see her yawn. He smelled like laundry detergent and cigarette smoke.

“Can’t fool me, sleepy head,” he said with a smile. “I’ll walk you home.”

He helped her up and they began the walk back to the farm. Quinn couldn’t help but get distracted picking up the shells that littered the beach.

“What?” she asked defensively in response to the face Sebastian pulled. “I can make things out of them. And when I can’t, Willy buys them. They’re useful.”

He shook his head and laughed softly. They didn’t hold hands, despite how much Quinn wanted to.

When they reached Pierre’s shop, Sebastian paused.

“Will you be okay to get home from here?” he asked. “It’s later than I thought, but I can walk you the rest of the way.”

She waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like anything is going to jump out at me on my way. Go home and get some sleep.”

Sebastian hesitated, but leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. As they were pulling away, Quinn heard voices nearby.

“It’s Alex and Haley,” Sebastian said quietly. Determined, Quinn pulled his lips back to hers. She felt him smile.

“Oh, we’re doing it this way?” he asked when they broke to breathe. He kissed her again and the footsteps slowed, then turned in the opposite direction, quicker than before.

Quinn pulled away and couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. “I’m going to hear about this, I’m sure.”

Sebastian shrugged. “Nothing you’re not used to at this point.”

“I guess this forces my hand,” she lamented. “I’ll come find you tomorrow at some point with a bouquet.”

“I can hardly wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can we talk about how much I love Seb, Abby and Sam (or SAS as I like to call them).  
> Abby wearing two sweaters in case Quinn gets cold is like my favourite thing.  
> Sam barging in on Quinn in the shower is from a writing prompt I found on Google. If it was anyone, it would be Sam lol.  
> And Seb is... well, Seb. We all love him. Secretly I think he's just a big ol' sweetie and I love how cute his dialogue is in game when you get to know him. He's a precious bean.


	14. Dahlias

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn gives her first bouquet to much awkwardness, and finally gets somewhere with Harvey.

Quinn entered Pierre’s on the first day of Fall, nervous.

She bought her seeds, some things to stock her pantry, and cleared her throat before asking Pierre if he had any bouquets. He gave her a curious look.

“Caroline typically does them up,” he replied. “You can put in an order and pick it up in about an hour. Did you want anything specific in it?”

“Um. Can… can you use like… dark flowers… or something?”

Pierre cocked his head to the side, but didn’t press further, and rang Quinn’s seeds and bouquet up. He wrote her a ticket with instructions to come back in an hour when Caroline was done, and sent her on her way.

She planted the new seeds to bide her time, and soon enough was back in the store. Caroline met her at the door with the bouquet of dark coloured dahlias.

“I only had burgundy and this dark purple,” she explained apologetically. “Abby likes the purple ones so I make sure I grow those all year long. I hope that’s okay!”

Seeing as it was only Sebastian who was getting it, Quinn nodded. “It’s really lovely, Caroline, thank you.”

Caroline smiled warmly. “I think I have an idea of who’s getting that arrangement. He’ll appreciate the thought you put into it, Quinn. My usual bouquets are bright tulips and hyacinths and such.”

Quinn thanked her again and tucked the bouquet into her backpack, not wanting to attract attention to herself as she made her way up to the mountaintop home.

She was feeling nervous again as she slipped past Robin and descended into the basement bedroom. She knew it was stupid, she’d been in Sebastian’s room before, but never with what she had in her possession.

When she entered the room, she was incredibly surprised to see Sam and Abby there as well. Sebastian was on his computer, as usual, but it didn’t seem like the three of them were doing anything.

“Hey, nerds,” Quinn said casually as her friends noticed her. Abigail stood up and looked at Quinn with accusing eyes.

“Who’d you order the bouquet for?” she asked. Quinn blanched.

“Uh… what bouquet? What are you talking about?”

_Yeah, play dumb. That’ll work._

Abby rolled her eyes. “That’s not gonna work, Quinn Briar, my mom was making one up before I left this morning. Are you suggesting my mom would _lie_ to me when she said it was you who requested it?”

Quinn felt her entire body turning red. She had really counted on not having an entire damn audience when she presented her first bouquet.

“I just wanted to… have it for when I needed it.” It was lame, and she knew it, but it was the best she could do.

“Do you want to know what I think?” Abby said. Quinn didn’t want to know what she thought, but let her continue. “I think it’s for Sebastian. He’s been acting so weird lately, and I think it’s because there’s something going on between you two. I think that you’re fucking _falling for him_ or something, and I can’t believe that neither one of you idiots thought to tell me.”

Quinn glanced at Sebastian, who was purposefully ignoring the scene unfolding in front of him, which made her think he had been grilled about this already.

“There isn’t anything going on between me and Sebastian,” Quinn said. “We kissed last night, but that’s it, and that was because Alex and Haley were looking.”

Abby frowned. “You’re a really bad liar, Quinn. I couldn’t get it out of him, but you’re, like, the worst.”

Quinn floundered. “I’m not a bad liar!”

“You’re the shittiest liar I’ve ever met,” Sam interjected. “Sebastian is good because he’s probably a serial killer but you look like a sunburnt tomato.”

Quinn was caught. She didn’t know what else to do.

“Fine. I bought a bouquet for Sebastian. I came over here last week after some dumb idiot-” she pointed a glare at Sam, “-came in my shower while I was using it and acted like it was totally normal that we were showering together. By the way, Sam, what the fuck? Anyway, I came over here and, yeah, _something happened._ I think you can use your imagination for it and I don’t need to spell it out.”

Abby’s mouth dropped open. “Are you serious? I was… I was just egging you on… I didn’t actually think anything happened between you two!”

Quinn shrugged. “Well, it did. And you can thank the real life anime character over there.”

“I’m not a real life anime character.” Sam scowled.

“Yes, you are,” Abby said matter-of-factly. “But that’s not the point. The point is-”

“The point is that, yes, I have a bouquet for Sebastian,” Quinn cut her off. “And yeah, I was expecting to come over here and give it to him nicely and it would be all grand but you two just had to ruin it.”

She yanked the bouquet out of her backpack and threw it at Sebastian, who resembled a lobster at this point.

“Sorry there was no fanfare, but these two are the reason that we can’t have nice things.”

With that, she left.

* * *

 “…So, anyway, me and your mom were thinking of taking a drive down to see you soon! If that’s okay with you, of course.”

Quinn was balancing her phone on her shoulder while she absently stirred the jelly she was making. Her dad had been excited to get her call, and Quinn found herself chattering nonstop in his ear about the farm. Andrew Briar was, predictably, excited to hear about how she made her new home at his father’s old property.

“I would love that!” Quinn exclaimed. “I’ll have to bring Robin over to build the second bedroom she can’t stop talking about, but that’s not a problem. I would be honoured to have you and mom stay here.”

She was so excited that her dad brought up visiting. Quinn was very close to both of her parents, who lived in Zuzu City with her brothers, and missed them more than anything else in the city combined. Her parents were, at times, a bit abrasive, but she could look past that for the time being.

“Ben is away at basic training and Wes can’t take time off work to come with us, so it’ll just be me and mom.”

Quinn smiled. “I’ll get those two idiots out here eventually. I can’t wait until you see the place, dad, I’ve fixed it up so much.”

She and her dad chatted a little more. Her parents planned to come over for the Stardew Valley Fair, a perfect opportunity for Quinn to show them her best produce, and it was still early enough in the season that it wouldn’t be too cold for them.

She didn’t look forward to going back up to the mountain house to ask Robin for a spare room, but sucked it up for the sake of her parents. She hadn’t talked to Sebastian since the day before, during the bouquet fiasco. Sam and Abby had bombarded her to apologize for their behaviour, but nothing from Sebastian.

She just hoped she didn’t fuck anything up by giving him the bouquet in the first place.

_Don’t be stupid, stupid. You told him you were giving it to him. He knew it was coming._

She sighed and pushed the door to Robin’s shop open, catching the carpenter just in time as she left for her aerobics class.

“You can just leave the materials near the house, and I’ll pick them up when I start tomorrow! Thanks Quinn!”

She quickly counted out the money Quinn had handed her and stuffed it in the register before leaving quickly so she wouldn’t be late.

“Hey, Quinn.”

Quinn was just about to leave when she heard footsteps behind her, and saw Maru walking down the hall in her nurse outfit. Quinn waved.

“Hey.”

“Listen, can we talk for a second?” Maru asked. “We can walk and talk.”

Quinn agreed and opened the door as the two set off towards the clinic.

“This is going to sound weird,” Maru said. “But I think it’s time I intervened.”

“What are you talking about?” Quinn raised an eyebrow. She didn’t spend a lot of time with Maru, but knew enough to be confident that Maru was a little out of her element.

“Harvey is totally in love with you,” Maru blurted. “He’s too nervous to tell you himself, but I can’t stand it anymore. You’re like, all he talks about, besides airplanes, but he’s got it in his head that he’s too old and not good enough for you.”

Quinn was shocked. “Wait, Maru, are you serious?”

“Trust me when I say that I am one million percent confident that Harvey likes you.”

“Huh,” was all Quinn had to say to that.

So, the Doctor Quinn couldn’t stop thinking about felt the same way as she did. _How about that._

“Will you talk to him?” Maru asked. They were almost at the clinic. “Please, please talk to him.”

“You know, I honestly thought you two were a thing,” Quinn replied. “It’s… kind of surprising to know that you aren’t.”

Maru wrinkled her nose. “Harvey isn’t too old for you, but he’s definitely too old for me. And can you keep a secret?”

The nurse leaned in. “I’ve actually been dating Penny for a while now.”

“Wait, what?” Quinn whisper-screamed. “When did that start? Holy shit, Maru, that’s awesome! You guys are so good together!”

Maru smiled. “Since just after you got here. I gave her the bouquet. Neither one of us was really expecting it, but it just… happened. No one really knows about it, though, so keep that to yourself. Anyway, please talk to Harvey.”

“I will,” Quinn assured her. “Just… not right now. I have some stuff going on. And my parents are coming to visit for the fair. Maybe when everything settles down.”

Maru shrugged. “Whatever you say. Also… don’t forget your pap test next week.”

“I was hoping you’d forgotten about that,” Quinn said with a groan. “I’ll see you then.”

Maru disappeared within the clinic. Quinn took a moment to read over the calendar and the bulletin board before departing for the farm, but was stopped before she could go.

“Do you have a minute?”

She hadn’t wanted to talk to him yet, but Harvey was standing in front of her, just outside the clinic doors. His face was flushed and he was fidgeting. She leaned against the wall.

“Always. What’s up?”

He exhaled. “Do you… would… do… um… I’m bad at this…”

Quinn kept quiet, amused, and let him continue to flounder.

“Quinn.” He sounded a bit more firm. “I would like to know if you would perhaps be interested - and you don’t have to say yes just because I’m standing here, only say yes if you want to – if you would maybe want… want to get… dinner? Sometime?”

She smiled softly, her eyes raking over his flushed face. It looked like it had taken a lot out of him to ask her that.

“Yes,” she said quietly. “I would be interested.”

Harvey looked a little taken aback. “What? Oh, great! Great! Excellent! Yes. Would you like to come over tomorrow night then? I’m hopeless at cooking, of course, but I’ll make sure to pick up something from Gus.”

“Wait, you mean at your place?”

“Uh… uh…” Harvey was nervous again. “Yes? If… if that’s okay. I just prefer the quiet over the Saloon. But if that’s a problem -”

Quinn cut him off. “That’s fine. I was just making sure. I’ll see you tomorrow night, Harvey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my head, bouquets don't make anything "official" if you will. It means you're interested in the other person and you're dating them and can call them "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" but it's not serious. That's why no one cares if Quinn gives one to everyone lol.  
> Also: as of this chapter, this is at roughly 32,000 words. I've never written that much in my life, it's amazing! Thank you to everyone who has read this far through my cluttered thoughts. I appreciate it very much.  
> Also also: I JUST REALIZED I FORGOT ABOUT PENNY!!! I feel so bad!!! Penny is my husband's favourite and I'm so ashamed. I hope he never finds out. BUT, I love Penny and Maru together!!! They make my heart happy!


	15. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn and Harvey finally go on a date.

Quinn wandered into Harvey’s apartment at half past five, realizing that they had never actually agreed on a time when they planned their dinner.

He wasn’t home – likely at the Saloon picking up their food. She did some light snooping, picking up books to see the titles and peeking in his fridge. She was surprised to find so many frozen dinners and resolved to asking him around for meals more often. She wasn’t the best cook, but it was better than what he had in his fridge.

She found herself at a small table near the window, the surface covered in model planes and a radio set. She picked up one of the smaller planes and was examining it when Harvey came in.

“Ah, do you like my planes?” He sounded excited, and Quinn couldn’t fight the smile. “That’s the Spitfire. Those were used by the British Air Force during the second World War. I have a few of those, actually, but the one you’re holding is my favourite.”

“Do you know a lot about planes?” she asked, setting the model down. He nodded.

“I do indeed. As a kid, I always wanted to be a pilot. But… with my bad eyesight and crippling fear of heights, that dream started to fade away.”

Quinn’s face must have fallen, because Harvey grabbed her arms.

“Oh, don’t be sad! I’ve grown to accept my station in life. Not everyone can achieve their dreams, that’s just the way the world is. And besides, I have my model planes! Let me show you my new TR-Starbird Deluxe set!”

She watched him excitedly pick up a golden plane and show it off.

“You are so cute,” she said before she could stop herself. He stopped dead in his tracks. _You fucked that up, Quinn. Nothing left to do but own it._

“I admire your positivity,” she continued. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you as a pilot.”

He smiled at her, as if in a daze, and then shook his head.

“No matter. Dinner is here, let’s not let it get cold.”

He busied himself with the take out bag, pulling a few dishes out onto the dining room table.

“I don’t really know what you like to eat,” he said bashfully. “So I got a little bit of everything Gus had on the menu tonight. Eggplant parmesan, radish salad, some spaghetti, and I got a pumpkin pie for dessert!”

“This is really sweet of you, Harvey,” Quinn said as she tucked herself into her chair and pushed it into the table. “You didn’t have to get so much, I’m not that picky.”

“I… I just wanted to do it right.”

He was suddenly very interested in piling food onto his plate and didn’t quite meet Quinn’s eye. Quinn smiled to herself and took a bit of everything.

Harvey spoke after a while. “I haven’t been on a date in a long time. I apologize if I’m not… good at it.”

Quinn couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. “Harvey, there’s no right or wrong way to be on a date. You haven’t tried to stab me or sell me to a multi-level marketing scheme though, so I think you’re doing pretty good.”

“Have those things happened to you?” He cocked his head a little.

“Oh, yeah,” Quinn replied breezily. “The city is a weird place. You meet all sorts of people. My apartment was right downtown so I had the pleasure of meeting them every single day.”

“I never liked the city,” Harvey said. “I went to university and did my residence there, but left as soon as I could. Have I ever told you I used to be married?”

Quinn unintentionally dropped her fork. “What? No? You never mentioned that to me.”

“Hm. I suppose I haven’t had much reason to tell you that. Yes, I was married, briefly, but it obviously didn’t work out. We were young and I was naïve to what lengths people will go to for money.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we got married when I was in my last year of school, before my residency. We hadn’t dated long, and I was mostly oblivious to what she had planned. When I told her that I wasn’t going to be staying in the city to work at the hospital, she immediately filed for divorce and disappeared. She didn’t even file for alimony, like my money wasn’t worth it.”

“That’s kind of fucked up, Harvey,” Quinn said. She couldn’t believe that someone could treat sweet Harvey that way.

He shrugged, placing his knife and fork on his empty plate. “Things happen. I’m happier now that I’m free of that situation, for sure. I just… thought I’d get it all out now in case it becomes an issue. I don’t expect her to pop back up, but… stranger things have happened.”

“I’m still having a hard time picturing you in the city,” Quinn said, trying to steer the conversation to a more lighthearted place. “You’d stick out like a sore thumb.”

“Oh, I’m sure I did,” Harvey replied with a light laugh. “I was renting this terrible studio apartment on the East Side, it had horrible lighting and I’m quite sure it was haunted.”

“I lived in the North End. My building wasn’t haunted, but I assure you, the same shitty architecture of Zuzu doesn’t change just because you’re across town.”

“Do you like it here?” he asked.

She nodded. “Much better than in the city. I can actually breathe out here, stretch my legs. And everyone out here is so much better, too. I feel like I came home, and I don’t think it’s because I visited Grandpa as a kid.”

“I’m glad.” He leaned his head in his hands and smiled. “I feel the same way. The cynic in me says that everyone was just happy to get a doctor in town, but I really feel like I belong in this community.”

“Oh, come on, you’re a beloved figure here. I’m surprised they don’t have a statue in your honour.”

They fell into a comfortable silence after that as Harvey cut two small pieces of pumpkin pie.

“Thanks for not asking about… things,” Quinn said. “Everyone else is so nosy. This has been nice.”

“You mean your personal life, don’t you?” She nodded. “It’s not my business. I try not to be involved in gossip. When it’s everywhere like it is here, it’s hard, but I avoid it as much as possible. If something about the situation was important, you’d have told me. And, you’re here with me now, so I can infer certain things.”

Her heart swelled in her chest. She felt different around Harvey than she did with anyone else, and although she wasn’t positive, she had a hunch as to what that feeling was. Not like she was going to say it out loud.

When the last of the pumpkin pie was finished, Harvey cleared the plates away and set the leftovers in the fridge. He suggested a movie, and they curled up on the couch together, with Quinn using his shoulder as a pillow.

As to be expected, she fell asleep. Harvey didn’t try to move her, and despite how uncomfortable he was, he fell asleep as well.

* * *

 

Quinn woke up in Harvey’s apartment the next morning, alone and sore. He must have already been working, so she slipped out of the clinic quietly and ran home as fast as she could so no one would see her in the same clothes she had worn the day before.

She was glad she hadn’t run into anyone on her way home. Before setting out to do her farm chores, she decided a shower was probably the best course of action, hoping the hot water would kick on long enough to ease her sore muscles.

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of Robin inside her house.

“Oh, fuck, Robin, you scared me,” she said. “I forgot you were coming over today!”

Robin grinned. “I looked for you when I got here but I see that you were elsewhere.”

Quinn couldn’t hold in her excitement. Robin was her friend, and was less likely to spread gossip than most people.

“I had a date with Harvey,” Quinn replied. Robin regarded her with an odd expression. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m into older men.”

“How do you explain my son, then?” Robin asked with a laugh. “He’s the same age as you.”

She had almost completely forgotten about Sebastian, but wasn’t about to let Robin know that.

“I like them my age too. I didn’t know you knew about me and Sebastian.”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Quinn, I’ve literally never seen that boy happier. I thought maybe him and Abby were doing drugs or something, but then I saw his bouquet. I think it’s great.”

Quinn bit her lip. “You don’t think it’s weird that Seb is technically my boyfriend and I just told you I went on a date with Harvey last night?”

“Oh, honey, there’s nothing weird about that. You can’t know if you’ve truly found the one for you if you’re stuck on one person. Giving people bouquets is just the beginning, it’s not the end.”

“Hm.” Quinn mused. “I just… I don’t think that it’s normal anywhere else in the world to be so… open about things.”

“It’s the way it’s always been done here.” Robin shrugged. “And I’m happy for you. You know, we were all a little worried that you wouldn’t find someone here. That was before we met you, of course. Your grandfather was completely turned off the idea of dating after he lost your grandmother, even though he wasn’t that old.”

“Never lost an opportunity to flirt though,” Robin added with a wink.

Quinn laughed at the idea of her grandpa flirting. “Thanks, Robin. You’re such a great mom, you know.”

“Speaking of mom…” Robin trailed off suggestively. Quinn waved her hands around frantically.

“I didn’t order an extra room for a baby!” she exclaimed. “My parents are coming to stay for the fair and I didn’t want to make them sleep on the couch. Or worse, me sleep on the couch. I slept upright on Harvey’s couch last night and I am in _so much pain._ ”

“I haven’t seen your dad since… Yoba… 2004? 2005? It’s been a long time. How are they doing?”

“Dad opened up his own clinic and mom just joined a knitting club. She loves it. They are the epitome of an upper middle class middle aged white couple and they’re having a ball.”

Robin’s eyes twinkled. “Bring them over to see me when they get here, yeah? It’ll be nice to catch up. And get your dad to bring a dental kit. I’ve been trying to get Demetrius in to see one in the city, but he’s so damn stubborn.”

“I’m not even trying to be sarcastic when I say that dad would love to work on his vacation.”

The two women laughed at that. Quinn excused herself to shower, praying that the hot water would stay on long enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have some big plans, I just wanted to get a date with Harvey out of the way lol. The characters have really gotten away from me and I'm dreaming about them now.


	16. Breaking Up, Among Other Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn does what she should have done months ago, Abby seriously misreads a situation, and Quinn schools Sebastian on good dental health habits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a VERY AWKWARD blowjob in this chapter in the last section. I don't normally write sexy things but things got away from me somehow. This is the first one I've written like this. It's not super graphic, but... you know what it is. I hope it doesn't ~suck~

Quinn got a letter in the mail from Alex.

She recognized his hand writing on the front, and really hadn’t wanted to open it, but curiosity got the better of her.

 _Quinn,_  
_I want to come over tonight and do something nice for you. If you forgot to give the dress you wore at the Flower Dance back to Emily like I know you did, wear it._  
_I’m sorry I’ve been a jerk._  
_-Alex_

She rolled her eyes. Of course she had forgotten to give Emily her dress back, but she didn’t like that Alex knew that about her.

“What do you think, Trillium, should I put the dress on and be nice to him?”

Trillium was sitting on the arm of the couch, watching her owner with her big yellow eyes. She meowed happily as Quinn scratched behind her ears.

“I guess I should, huh?”

She sighed and wandered into the empty room where her parents would be staying in less than two weeks. She had ordered some furniture from with the money dad had sent her, but it still set her back a bit.

“Maybe a trip to the mines would do me good?” she said to no one, but thought of Harvey and how much he would worry. “Okay, maybe not. Maybe some fishing.”

So she spent the afternoon fishing, and actually had better luck than usual. She hauled her catches over to Willy, who gave her a generous amount of gold for them.

“Not bad, miss!” he had said as he licked his dry lips. “Yer gettin’ good at this!”

While the gold wasn’t enough to recuperate her losses on furniture, she reasoned that she still had some time before they got there to make the farm house look a little less disastrous. Some heavy duty cleaners would be needed to get the jam stains out of the hardwood, that much was certain. Perhaps some new curtains to replace the ones she had burnt trying to smelt ores inside as well.

She had almost forgotten about Alex until she saw Evelyn standing outside, tending to a small pumpkin patch. She panicked and ran the whole way home and rushed to pull on the dress and not look like she had spent the day knee deep in the ocean.

Alex let himself in the front door, and she practically fell out of her bedroom to greet him.

“Hey,” she said breathlessly, slamming the door behind her so he wouldn’t see the mess of clothes she had thrown everywhere in search of the dress.

“Hi,” he said back, an amused smile playing across his lips. “You wore the dress.”

“Well, I got a letter that told me to wear it, so I did.”

He held up another bouquet of flowers, this time calla lilies. She groaned.

“Lilies are poison to cats, Alex,” she said. “I appreciate the effort, but I’m going to have to put these outside.”

Alex frowned. “Are they? How… how did you know that?”

“Because I’m not an ignorant cat owner, duh. How did you not know that?”

He shrugged. “Haley picked them out…”

“Of course.” Quinn opened the door and threw the lilies in the direction of the pond near the gate. “Leave it to her to try to kill my fucking cat. She’s a real class act.”

“Don’t be like that,” Alex snapped. “She probably didn’t know either. She’s trying to be nice to you now, Quinn.”

“Oh, is that why she still calls me trash when I see her in town? Yeah, she’s doing a great job there too.”

Alex rubbed his temple. “Quinn. I don’t want to argue right now. I want to have a nice night with my girlfriend.”

“ _One_ of your girlfriends,” Quinn corrected. She couldn’t help but stir the pot a little. She hadn’t seen him for a while, it was overdue.

Alex chose to ignore that. “I’m going to cook for you. You like salmon, right?”

“Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever had salmon,” she replied. “And since when can you cook?”

“…My grandmother taught me how to make this. I can’t actually cook. This is only my second time making it, so don’t judge salmon too harshly.”

She watched him unload a few ingredients and a brand new pan. She raised an eyebrow.

“Did you buy a new pan just for this?”

“I was going to buy it anyway,” he said defensively. “Grandma needs a new one. I don’t think she’s gotten anything new for the kitchen since before I was born.”

“It’s nice that you look out for them so much.” Quinn leaned against the counter. “I miss my grandpa.”

Alex didn’t say anything, but began cooking dinner. To her surprise, he wasn’t the disaster in the kitchen she thought he would be.

“Why didn’t you want to see the jellies with me?” she asked softly over the sizzle of the salmon in the pan. “I tried to get a hold of you, but I didn’t hear from you.”

Alex chose not to answer that as well, and instead started talking about kale.

They ate their dinner in relative silence, until Quinn brought her hand down on the table.

“Okay, listen up,” she said. “You can’t just pick and choose what you answer when I ask you questions. What the fuck happened, Alex?”

“I’m trying my best!” His voice was starting to rise. “I’m trying, Quinn, but I’ve just been in this routine for so long that I can’t break it.”

“That’s a terrible excuse!”

She left the room and returned with the original bouquet Alex had given her. She dropped it in his lap.

“I don’t know how this works. But take this. I don’t want it anymore.”

“You’re breaking up with me with dead flowers?” Alex scoffed. “Quinn… I’m trying.”

“First of all, don’t tell me you’re _trying_ when Haley is still around. Second, Alex, I didn’t want to tell you this, but it’s gotten out of hand. I’m not into you like you’re into me. I just wanted to be your friend, okay? This… this isn’t anything close to what I wanted. So… yeah. That’s out now.”

Alex was dumbfounded. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“I’m so bad at confrontation, and every time you looked at me it was like… I can’t do this to him. And then you started running around with Haley again after the Luau and at that point I just wanted to be petty.”

“I guess you warned me,” Alex said quietly. “You said you used to be a shitty person. You failed to mention that you still are, though.”

* * *

 Quinn texted Sam and Abby for the first time since the weekend. She explained what happened. Abby sent instructions to meet at her house.

When Quinn arrived at Abby’s, the shop out front was dark, and it felt strange pushing through to the house. Abby was waiting for her.

“So you actually did it?” she asked, almost excitedly. “I mean that makes the whole Operation thing pretty useless now, but man, I didn’t think you’d do it.”

“I got frustrated,” Quinn explained. “I felt like an unhappy married couple and I didn’t want to feel that way anymore.”

They entered Abby’s room. Quinn had assumed Sam would be there as well, but it was empty. When she asked about his absence, Abby shrugged.

“He’s babysitting Vincent tonight. Jodi has book club with Robin and mom or something. They’re over at the library.”

“What about Sebastian?”

“Man, I dunno, he’s your boyfriend. Just because you got rid of one doesn’t mean they all fall off the radar.”

Quinn giggled. “You make me sound like such a Mac Daddy, Abs. I… I haven’t heard from Seb. I don’t know what it is, but it seems like boys in this town don’t actually want to date and once you think you’re getting somewhere, they disappear. Am I gross or something?”

“No!” Abby exclaimed, a little too quickly. “You’re not gross. Sebastian just needs some time to stew. He thinks you’re mad at him.”

“I’m not mad at him, I was mad at you and Sam for fucking my moment!”

“Oh.” Abby chewed her lip. “I’m really sorry for that… interrogation we gave you. It’s just… Seb is like a delicate flower.”

“No he’s not, Abigail, he’s a big boy. I think he could have handled being asked out by a girl on his own.”

“We really did fuck that up, didn’t we?” Abby looked guilty. “Anyway, he’s not mad at you. Me and Sam got ripped in to, but he’s not mad at you.”

Quinn felt dumb. She hadn’t texted Sebastian because she didn’t want him to feel like she was suffocating him, but obviously that was the wrong move.

“I’m bad at this, Abs,” she said. “I am so, so bad at this.”

“You’re not bad at this, you’re just… not great at reading signals, that’s all. Anyway, let’s play Journey of the Prairie King to cheer you up!”

“I suck at this game though,” Quinn whined, but accepted the controller anyway. Despite both of them doing fairly poorly, they managed to clear three levels before they both ran out of lives.

“I’ve never seen that last level before,” Abby said. “Thanks for helping me get a high score!”

Quinn chuckled. “I think we had luck on our side. I kept getting cornered with only one bullet coming out of my gun each time. I kept missing the power ups.”

“This is nice,” Abby said, rolling over to face Quinn in her bean bag chair. Quinn smiled in response.

“I’m glad we’re friends.”

Abby rolled closer. Alarm bells started going off in Quinn’s head. Abby got closer and closer until their faces were almost touching.

“Abigail,” Quinn breathed. “I don’t… think you should continue.”

Abby returned to her own chair, deflated. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Quinn paused. “We don’t ever have to talk about this again.”

“Deal.” Abby got up. “Hey, do you want to hold David? I swear he’s gotten bigger since the last time you were here. Dad got the natural food line in and I’m pretty sure it has more calories than the regular stuff…”

* * *

 “Furniture delivery!”

Quinn opened the door to Sam and Sebastian standing on her doorstep with a few large boxes behind them. She got out of their way as they hauled them in.

“What do you need an extra bed for?” Sam asked as he lugged the back of the box into the room upstairs. “Are you having a baby?”

Quinn eyed him suspiciously. “What kind of baby do you think I’m putting in a queen sized bed, Samson?”

Sam started to say something to argue, but conceded. “Good point.”

“It’s for my parents. They’re coming to visit next week. Also, it’s never a bad idea to have a nice guest room anyway.”

They hauled in the dresser next, then a new TV stand and a couch.

“What’re you going to do with your old couch?” Sam asked.

“Move the old one upstairs in the den, leave the new one here,” she instructed. “My parents won’t be spending too much time up there so they don’t have to look at that monstrosity.”

“I liked that couch,” Sebastian said, giving her a soft smile. Their first interaction in almost a week.

“Oh come on, Seb, it went out of style in 1983. I needed a new one.”

The new couch was a sectional made of plush navy blue fabric and came with an ottoman. She had spent more on it than she probably should, but figured it would be a good investment over time. It was better than the old paisley pattern one that Sam was currently dragging up the stairs.

“I think that’s all of it,” Sebastian said, checking outside for good measure. “Don’t forget to tip your delivery boys.”

“I don’t think I want to give you your tip in front of Sam,” she said quietly, so only he could hear. Apparently, however, Sam had better hearing than she thought.

“Nope, okay, I’m leaving. No tip for Sam.  Bye.”

He scurried out the door leaving Quinn and Sebastian alone.

“I was kidding,” she said as she watched him leave.

“No you weren’t,” Sebastian snorted, crossing the room to hold her. “I know you weren’t.”

He tipped her chin up and kissed her. The scent of cigarettes that always seemed to follow him wrapped around her body and embedded itself in her. Surprisingly, she didn’t hate it as much as she usually did.

“Have you finished everything you needed to finish today?” he asked her between kisses. She nodded.

“I was going to go ask Marnie about a cow but… looks like I have other plans, yeah?”

She could feel him smile. “Hey. I’m sorry I went silent for a bit there. I thought you were mad at me.”

“Abby filled me in,” she replied. “I thought _you_ were mad.”

He pulled away momentarily. “We’re both pretty bad at picking up social cues.”

“Yeah.” She kissed him again. “That’s nothing new.”

They maneuvered their bodies to the new couch, sitting in the corner where the two sides of the sectional met, and Quinn crawled in between his legs.

“So, your parents are coming over?” he asked, propping himself up on an elbow. “What are they like?”

“My parents are excellent,” she replied. “I like to describe them as the perfect upper middle class middle age couple. My dad is bringing dentist stuff if you need your teeth looked at.”

Sebastian recoiled slightly. “I haate the dentist.”

“Don’t talk about my dad like that,” she chastised playfully. “Your mom is making Demetrius get a checkup.”

“Quinn.” Sebastian shifted up a little. “You and I need to have a conversation about what is appropriate to talk about when you’re sitting so close to my genitals. It feels so wrong to get a boner while you talk about my step dad getting dental work done.”

She laughed as she ran her hand up his leg. “Where did that come from?”

“You know where it came from,” he replied, closing his eyes and leaning his head back as she settled her hand in between his legs. He strained against the fabric of his jeans.

“I’m just saying, dental hygiene is important.” She continued to touch the area as she undid his pants and slid them down. “Dad’s been a dentist for, like almost thirty years. You should consider getting a checkup.”

“I don’t… I don’t want to talk about… ah… dental checkups.” He was struggling with his words under her touch. Her hand shimmied into the leg hole of his underwear and he groaned as they found what they were looking for.

“Seb, come on. You don’t want to get mouth disease.”

With the hand currently inside his underwear, she pulled them down as well in one fluid motion and took him in her mouth.

“Quinn. Don’t – talk – about – mouth disease – with – my – cock – in – your mouth.” He was having a harder and harder time talking, but Quinn wasn’t about to give up.

“Have you been brushing and flossing regularly?” she asked, taking him in her hand and slowly moving up and down. “It’s amazing what gets stuck in your teeth when you don’t floss. In fact, about half of the problems in the mouth are caused by poor flossing habits.”

Sebastian squirmed, panting. She replaced her hand with her mouth again and he gripped the couch and gritted his teeth.

“Why am I into this?” he asked breathlessly. “I shouldn’t be into this.”

“You’ve also gotta monitor your gums for things like gingivitis,” she continued, her hands back on him. “Gingivitis is surprisingly common, and easy to treat, but you still have to be careful. Prevention is better than a cure, you know.”

He was past the point of being able to talk. His head was hanging off the arm of the couch and his back was arching up off the cushion. The sounds he made were no more than groans and grunts.

“And don’t even get me started on tooth decay.” Her hands moved faster. “You can prevent tooth decay by making sure your teeth are clean and free of plaque.”

“Fuck…” Sebastian managed. He mashed his eyes shut as Quinn’s hands sent him over the edge. He grounded his body once again, breathing heavy.

“So, what have we learned?”

Quinn was beaming at him from between his legs. He let out a weak laugh.

“Fucking _nothing."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I'm really sorry I made that pun up there. I couldn't help it. Tell me you wouldn't have done it too. If you think about it, it spends more time in her hand than in her mouth but I wouldn't be able to make the same stupid joke out of the word handjob)


	17. Stardew Valley Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew and Jackie arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jumped POV's a bit, whoopsies!!

“I really don’t condone you coming to my office and asking for anti-anxiety medication, Quinn.”

Quinn rolled her eyes at Harvey’s stern tone. “Come on, please? My parents will be here in like, an hour, and I am DYING, HARVEY.”

“I thought you said you and your parents got along well? What do you need medication for?”

“I love them, they’re amazing, but they just _pick_ at everything!” Quinn’s leg was bouncing uncontrollably. She couldn’t quell the rising panic in her chest, squeezing her lungs and heart. “It drives me crazy and it makes me feel like shit.”

Harvey sighed heavily. “Let me see if you have any open prescriptions on your file. I’m not giving you something you haven’t taken before.”

“You gave me an Ativan last time,” she argued as he searched through her file.

“Ativan is generally kept on hand to alleviate sudden anxiety symptoms. You were in the middle of a panic attack the time I gave it to you.”

He pulled out a small slip of paper. “I see you’ve been prescribed Celexa recently. I can fill about half this prescription for you. After that, you will need to talk to someone about your mental health, Quinn, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that.”

Quinn’s hands balled up into fists and she dug her fingernails into her palms as she fought back the urge to scream. Harvey dug in a cupboard and brought out a small blister pack. She grabbed it and popped one out, swallowing hard.

He looked concerned. “You should have some water with that.”

“You’re the doctor.”

He handed her the half empty bottle of water, and she sipped a bit from it. He rose from his seat once again, and lowered himself slightly to her level and cupped her face with one hand.

“You’re going to be fine. Your parents are going to have a great visit. You’ve done so well for yourself, Quinn, I hope you remember that.”

Her eyes searched his, and she reached out for a soft kiss. It wasn’t their first, but she was still getting used to the fact that she could kiss him whenever she wanted now.

“Come with me,” she said quietly. “Come… come meet them.”

“I have an appointment this afternoon,” Harvey replied. “I’ve told you that. Don’t worry; I’ll meet them tomorrow at the fair. Everything will be fine, Quinn.”

She sighed, but surrendered. When she left the clinic, her legs felt like jelly and she couldn’t remember why she had wanted her parents to come in the first place.

Despite how pleasant Andrew and Jackie Briar were, they had nasty judgemental tendencies. They hated Joja, they hated Quinn’s old boyfriend, her old apartment, her choice in school, most things, actually. Taking over the farm was one of the first times they had approved of her choices, and Quinn didn’t want to fuck it up.

When she had planned her parents visit, she had rose coloured glasses on at the thought of seeing them again. Now that they were likely almost in the Valley, it was coming back to her. She loved her parents with every fibre of her being, but she was worried about not being good enough for them again.

Since moving to Pelican Town, she had managed to keep her anxiety in check. However, as she was realizing now, she hadn’t done as good a job as she thought she did if she was so easily crumbling under the thought of her parents.

Despite how heavy her legs felt, she managed to trudge her way to the farm before her parents got there.

Her house was now spotless, and semblance of dirt or grime had been wiped away with the help of Sam, Abby and Sebastian. She had requested that Sebastian and Robin come over, giving them an approximate timeline.

With the notable absence of her parents so far, though, it looked as though her friends would arrive first.

There was a knock at the door. Quinn jumped up and straightened her blouse. She was actually looking somewhat presentable today, changing into a nice blouse and jeans and brushing her hair for the first time in forever after doing her farm work.

Sebastian let himself in before she made it to the door. He looked concerned.

“Abby said it looked like you were having a panic attack outside the clinic,” he said. “I… I dunno, I got worried.”

“Aw, Sebby, you were worried about me?” Whatever was holding her lungs hostage loosened its grip, and her heart began beating semi-normally again.

He couldn’t meet her eyes. “Yeah. I worry about you sometimes.”

“Harvey took care of me, don’t worry. I got some Celexa. And don’t look at me like that, it was from a prescription I never had the chance to fill before I left the city. I hadn’t needed it until now. I thought… I thought I had this shit under control.”

Sebastian led her to the couch and sat her down. He sat beside her.

“What’s making it come up now?”

“Quinn? Quinnie? We’re here!”

Jackie Briar’s singsong voice filled Quinn’s farm house. The hand on her lungs was back, and worse than ever.

“I thought you liked your parents,” Sebastian hissed.

“I do,” she replied, her voice sounding unlike her own. “They’re amazing. They’re just judgemental and I’ve never been good enough for them.”

She got up regardless of the bricks weighing her down and opened the door.

Her mother was standing there, looking exactly the same as she had when Quinn had last seen her. Her red hair was pulled back in a neat bun, she wore slacks and a blazer, and looked very out of place on the farm. She was, however, beaming at the sight of her daughter.

“Oh, Quinn!” She pulled Quinn into a tight hug. Quinn could smell her Chanel perfume, the same one her mother had worn since she was a baby. Jackie held Quinn at arms length to look at her.

“Shit, girl, you are _tan!”_ she exclaimed. “And look at your arms! Drew, get over here! Quinn looks fucking awesome!”

“Mom,” Quinn protested, biting back a laugh. “Don’t talk about me like that!”

“What? You do! Being on the farm has obviously agreed with you. You don’t look as sick as you did working for that awful company. Breathing in that fake air. Drew, hurry the hell up!”

Her dad slammed the trunk of their car and waddled over, weighed down by two suitcases and a duffel bag.

“I’d have gotten here faster if you didn’t pack our entire bedroom, Jacqueline,” he replied, passing his wife and dropping the luggage.

“Jumping Jesus, Quinn, your mother wasn’t lying. You look like a human being again!”

“Dad!” Quinn protested. “You guys are embarrassing me, so bad.”

“In front of who?” her dad asked with a laugh as he pulled her into a hug as well. “It’s just us.”

Sebastian cleared his throat to make his presence known. He was never the social type, and if it was anyone else, he would have slipped out at the first opportunity.

Andrew released Quinn to look at the source of the noise. He squinted a little at Sebastian, before he recognized him.

“Yoba, you’re Robin’s boy aren’t you?” he asked excitedly. He grabbed Sebastian in a hug as well. “I haven’t seen you since you were… what, eight? I mean, you were tall back then, but look at you now!”

Sebastian managed a weak smile. “Yup, Robin’s my mom.”

“And how do you two know each other?” Jackie asked, daintily perching on the sofa. She fanned her hands out over the material. “And, Quinnie, is this a new couch? You have to tell me where you got it. It’s darling. I normally don't agree with your choice of styles but this is actually nice!”

“Well,” Quinn started with a nervous smile, trying to choke out the bubble rising in her chest. “Sebastian… Sebastian is my… uh…. He’s my boyfriend, actually.”

Both Jackie and Andrew whipped around to stare at Quinn, who’s smile was starting to waver.

“No way!” Andrew sounded… excited? “Oh, that’s so cool! Me and Robin ran around with each other when we were younger! She was my best friend! And now you’re dating! Oh man!”

Sebastian had been watching the exchange, amused. Quinn’s parents seemed like they came straight out of a cartoon, and he could see where her personality came from.

“Oh, honey, I’m so glad you found someone nice for a change,” Jackie said earnestly. “Sebastian, what do you do?”

“Oh… like a job? I’m a programmer.” He cleared his throat a little, never sure of what reaction to expect. To his pleasant surprise, both Jackie and Andrew looked delighted.

“Our son Wes is a programmer!” Andrew’s enthusiasm seemed to climb higher and higher each time. “He freaking loves it! He took a few courses at the community college, but he’s mostly self taught. Wouldn’t catch me on one of those machine thingies. Can’t even turn my phone on half the time. The dang thing hates me.”

“I thought Wes was training to be a welder?” Quinn’s voice was small and unsure. “When did he start programming?”

“Oh, just about a week after you left, actually. He decided he wanted something new, and that’s definitely something new!”

Quinn just nodded. Sebastian caught her eye. She didn’t look good, almost like she was expecting something to blow up right in front of her.

“Are you feeling alright, Quinnie?” Jackie asked, suddenly remembering her daughter in all the hubbub. “Do you need a Xanax or anything?”

“Mom!” Quinn was mortified. “You can’t just offer people Xanax like it’s candy!”

“Oh, but it’s just you, dear! You’ve taken it before! You know, when it was really bad?”

Quinn’s fists balled up at her sides. Her parents likely couldn’t see it, but Sebastian could.

“Don’t talk about that,” Quinn said. “Seb, when is your mom getting here?”

Sebastian checked his phone. “She should be on her way by now, I’d say. I don’t know if she’s bringing… Demetrius… with her, but if she is, add another twenty minutes or so to the walk.”

Andrew wrinkled his nose. “Demetrius? Demetrius Brook? Oh man, I haven’t seen that clown since high school! What’s your mom doing with that dingus?”

Sebastian snickered a little. “He’s my step dad.”

“No _freaking_ way!” Andrew roared with laughter. “Oh man, I used to pick on that guy so bad. What a nerd.”

“Dad, don’t be mean,” Quinn said. Her voice was beginning to return to normal, to Sebastian’s relief. “Demetrius is nice. Him and Robin had a daughter, her name is Maru, and she’s one of my good friends.”

Quinn joined Sebastian leaning against the kitchen island counter. He took hold of a few of her fingers.

“Have you made a lot of friends here, honey?” Jackie asked. “I know you’re not always the most social person. I’ve been worried you wouldn’t… fit in.”

“I have friends, mom.” Quinn was again starting to tense a little and Sebastian could sense that most of her nervousness was towards her mother. “I’m friends with almost everyone in town.”

“ _Almost_ everyone?” There was a hint of being condescending in Jackie’s voice. Andrew rolled his eyes.

“Don’t pick, Jacqueline. There's bound to be someone she doesn't get along with.”

Sebastian’s phone buzzed in his pocket.

“My mom is just about here, she says. She did not bring Demetrius.”

“Don’t like your step dad?” Andrew had a mischievous glint in his eye. Sebastian shrugged, but said nothing.

There was knock at the door, and Robin let herself in. Her eyes lit up when she saw Andrew and Jackie.

The three of them chatted for a while in loud voices and shrieking laughter, as people their age tended to do. Sebastian faced Quinn.

“Are you alright?”

She looked up at him, suddenly looking tired. “I’m just waiting for them to start on everything that’s wrong with the place.”

“Your mom…” Sebastian bit his lip. Quinn rolled her eyes.

“Honestly, she’s not even being as bad as she usually is right now. Actually, she complimented my couch and didn’t tell me that you’re trash, so I’d say she’s doing great.”

“Why does she have Xanax?”

Quinn paused for a moment, unsure. “… I don’t have an answer for that. Probably heard about it from her book club or something. Mom doesn’t usually take pills. Maybe she’s moonlighting as a drug dealer now.”

“I can’t think of anyone I’d want to buy drugs from less than your mother, Quinn.”

“No, I think it would be a catchy slogan. She could be the Yuppie Drug Dealer and all her middle age mom friends would buy Ambien and Xanax from her. I think she could do really well for herself, and no one would suspect her!”

Sebastian reached down and smoothed her hair. “Deep breaths. Maybe they’ve changed? You never know.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Maybe.”

* * *

 The Stardew Valley Fair was in fully swing with Quinn arrived with her parents. Andrew looked around in wonder.

“Not much has changed since I was a boy,” he said. “I’m gonna go talk to some people!”

He hurried off in the direction of Gus, who had a grill fired up and food cooking.

“What did you bring for the contest, Quinnie?” Jackie asked her, gesturing to the box Quinn was struggling with but not offering to help.

“Just some jams and pickles,” she replied. “I used some of my best produce for them.”

“Jams and pickles don’t win contests, you know.” Jackie pursed her lips. “Why didn’t you just enter the produce?”

“Most of it was from the summer, mom. It would all be dead by now. And I’m not really looking to win anything. Pierre apparently wins every year anyway. I just thought it would be fun, and then my friends can grab whatever they want so I don’t have to carry it back.”

“You’re not going to sell it?” Her mother was incredulous.

“They’re not worth that much.” They had reached an empty grange and Quinn carefully arranged her wares.

“Has anyone claimed those pickled peppers yet?” Harvey’s voice came in her ear. She smiled and shook her head.

“All yours, Doc.”

Her mother was watching the sudden exchange with interest. Quinn cleared her throat.

“Mom, this is my… friend, Doctor Harvey Fairchild. Harvey, this is my mom, Jackie.”

Harvey stuck out his hand with a smile. “I am very pleased to meet you. Quinn has been so excited for your arrival!”

Jackie delicately shook Harvey’s hand. “You’re awfully… close… for two friends.”

Quinn paused for a moment, but regained herself quickly.

“Well, mom, this is how people interact when you’re outside the city and not worried about getting shanked.”

Jackie seemed to buy it, and laughed. “I suppose so. I’m going to go check out the booths, Quinnie, I’ll find you later.”

Quinn waved to her mother and turned to Harvey.

“So,” he said with a smile. “I’m just your friend?”

“I already introduced her to Sebastian,” Quinn replied. “And, yes, Harvey, you are just my friend. My dad would probably be understanding about introducing multiple people as my significant other, but mom didn’t grow up here. She… Well. She’d be worse than usual.”

Harvey’s smile didn’t falter. “I understand. I’m still wrapping my head around the concept of a bouquet, myself. Speaking of…”

Quinn cut him off. “Don’t be impatient, Harvey.”

“How was the Celexa?” He was suddenly more serious, straightening up. “Don’t forget that I can’t refill any more prescriptions until you get new ones.”

Quinn was about to ask where the sudden change in demeanor came from, but it quickly became apparent. Sebastian had arrived at the fair with Robin and Demetrius.

“I’m going to go see what Gus is cooking,” he said. “I’ve been smelling it since I got here and I can’t let it be a mystery anymore. I’ll come pick those pickles up later!”

She waved goodbye. As he left, Marnie peeked into her grange.

“If he’s taking some pickles, can I take some jam?” she asked hopefully. “Jas just loves your jam.”

Quinn happily agreed, pointing out which jam was what. She was feeling confident in what she had in her display, until she heard Pierre and Caroline chattering about what was in the General Store’s display. She took a look in their grange and instantly regretted it.

“Pierre wins every year,” Marnie said. “I have no idea how he keeps that dang produce so fresh!”

“I have a theory that he’s been developing this super Speed-Grow fertilizer that grows plants in like, two days, and that’s why he always has so much.”

Marnie chuckled and rolled her eyes. “You’re a funny kid.”

Quinn grinned, all her worries about Pierre winning the prize gone from her mind. She chatted with Marnie for a moment about cows, until Sebastian caught sight of her.

“I don’t know why I didn’t think to look here,” he said when he had made his way over. “I should have known. What’s in your display?”

She proudly showed off her jars once again. He nodded thoughtfully as she explained what was what.

“You could set up a little shop or something, if you wanted to,” he said. “I could design your website.”

“I thought you did like… applications and shit, not web design.”

He shrugged. “I dabble from time to time. It’s honestly not that hard. You wouldn’t even have to pay me.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” she laughed. “I don’t want to even begin to imagine the shipping prices out of here, though.”

“You could just make them really expensive and prey on little old ladies who love specialty jam and have more money than they know what to do with.”

“I’m not going to prey on old ladies, Sebastian.”

“Or maybe just do a farmers market in the city. Who knows? You have unlimited possibilities. Jambilities, if you will.”

Quinn groaned. “That was so far off the mark. You know it’s easier if you insert it in a word it already sounds like. That was… a mess, man. Try again next time.”

A few other people stopped by Quinn’s grange to examine what she had, and before long, all her jams and pickles were spoken for.

“Alright, gang, I’m about to judge the grange displays!”

Quinn’s eyes followed Mayor Lewis as he examined what everyone had. He declared Pierre the winner, predictably, but Quinn did win second place. It was merely a small sum of gold, but she was proud regardless.

Her grange was cleaned out quickly by everyone who wanted an item. Harvey kissed her on the cheek as he took the pickles.

“Hey, have you gone to the fortune teller?” Sebastian asked her. “I don’t believe in it, obviously, but it’s fun.”

“Well if you think it’s fun, then it must be,” Quinn teased, but let Sebastian lead her to a tent near the bridge to the beach.

The fortune teller was a shriveled old lady who had a strange laugh. Quinn paid her gold and the lady began.

“Oh, young one. You’ve had a complicated start here in Stardew Valley, haven’t you? I can’t see it getting any easier, as you are destined to truly shake things up around here. However… there is one person who makes you truly happy… it is not who you think, as I know you have someone in mind. Cherish everyone, but especially the _one.”_

“But how do I know who that is?”

“Oh, my dear, they are right in front of you. You just have to see past the clouds of the one you want it to be to find the one who it is. Oh. And one more thing. Watch out for… vengeful blondes.”

“Wait, what?” Quinn desperately tried to get more answers, but the fortune teller had… disappeared?

She looked over at Sebastian, who simply shrugged.

“I think we know who the vengeful blonde might be, at least,” he said darkly, nodding his head towards the Saloon. Alex and Haley stood outside of it, whispering to each other.

“I broke up with Alex though,” Quinn replied. “Why would she be vengeful if she got what she wanted? And what the fuck is with the whole ‘the one’ business?”

“Don’t ask me, I’m not the fortune teller.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so right off the bat let me just say that I have zero experience with most anti-anxiety medication, I literally just googled "what anxiety medication will not make you drowsy" and picked the first name that came up. Unfortunately, the few I've been on make you tired as FUCK and I thought it would be unrealistic to pick one of those bc they knock you right out and the chapter would have ended with Quinn falling asleep like half an hour after taking one. Also, Quinn isn't like a pill seeker, my idea is that she had a prescription written before she moved, but was too lazy to take it to Harvey to fill it. Being on the farm has really helped with her anxiety, as a lot of it comes from her parents.  
> NEXT, I wanted to write Quinn's parents as like these wonderful perfect people who Quinn loves but like that's not realistic. So they're based loosely off my parents! My dad is an absolute ray of sunshine and my mom thinks I'm a piece of shit so there's that lol. I also have to say that I love writing yuppie characters, I can't even lie!  
> LAST, the fortune is a bit of a plot point here. She says a few different things so keep those in mind as you continue the painful journey of reading this steaming pile of poop lol.  
> Thank you to everyone who's left kudos, it's the best feeling! I'm very self conscious about my writing so it means a lot to me!


	18. Picking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn can't stop thinking about the stupid fortune teller.

Three days into her parents visit, Quinn had had enough.

Her mother would not stop picking at every little thing she did. Her father, to his credit, jumped in as best as he could, but it seemed as though Jackie had Andrew filters and ignored him every time.

She was sitting outside on the porch after a visit from Shane. Shane had come to check on Zelda and bring over a calf for Quinn’s new barn. Apparently, Quinn’s first mistake was naming the calf Riju instead of a “real cow name.” The second mistake was Shane, and it was this that had upset her.

Shane had come in the house to be introduced after getting Riju settled in the barn. Jackie had been two glasses into a bottle of Quinn’s melon wine, and offered one to Shane. Shane had declined. That was when Jackie started to _pick._

Shane was polite about it, but the questions didn’t stop coming. Before he left, he politely informed her that he was a recovering alcoholic and that Quinn’s friendship was actually the reason he stopped drinking. In place of Quinn’s pride came Jackie’s ignorance.

"Quinn, how on Earth did you find yourself friends with that boy?" her red-faced mother asked. "I mean, not that I think you could realistically do much better for friends. He's an alcoholic, for Yoba's sake!"

"No he isn't," Quinn snapped. "And you aren't any better, mom! That's the fifth bottle of my wine that you've drank in three days! What is wrong with you?"

And so, she found herself tucked into the corner of her porch, her knees drawn up to hide her face, nails digging into her palms and trying not to cry.

She thought she had done everything right to prepare for the tornado that was her mother.

_Dad’s gotten better,_ she thought glumly. _He transferred his negativity to mom and she’s worse._

She sent a text message to Shane to apologize for her mother. If nothing else, the action kept her hands busy so she wouldn’t leave marks in her palms.

The front door opened and closed, and her father walked out to join her.

“I don’t know what to say to her anymore,” Quinn said in a low voice. The kitchen window was open a crack and she didn’t want her words to be heard. “I can never tell if she’s going to be on my side or… gnawing on me.”

Andrew put his arm around his daughter. “I know, honey. I know.”

They sat in silence as she buried into her father’s embrace.

“I’m real proud of you, you know,” he said softly. “Everything you’ve done here… I was talking to Lewis yesterday. He told me you’re really a part of the community. I know it’s tough to just pack up and move like you did, but it sounds like you’re doing your Grandpa proud, too.”

Quinn’s eyes began to water as she looked up. “Thanks, dad.”

“I mean it,” he continued. “I miss you every single day, Quinn, but I know you’re home here. This place is special. I’m happy you have a slice of it. Don’t listen to your mother. I’m making her pack up now. I’ll get her out of your hair. Just… make sure to call, yeah?”

A wave of gratitude washed over Quinn, only to be replaced with sadness. She didn’t want her dad to leave.

“Of course.”

* * *

 After her parents left, Quinn found herself standing in a silent house. However, even the most silent silences could be deafening.

She was sitting on the edge of her new couch and her foot was tapping incessantly. She couldn’t help it.

She sighed loudly. Then again, louder. Louder. Finally, the sound had evolved into a scream. Another scream. Another. Louder and louder, until no sound came out.

She felt better. The residual anxiety caused by her mother wasn’t sitting well in her stomach.

She flopped on her back, staring at the ceiling and completely out of breath. It had been a long time since the hands on her heart and lungs had popped up, and she fell out of the habit of dealing with them. Even with the hasty prescription from Harvey, it didn’t do much.

She thought of the things that made her happy to try to put out the fire inside her. She thought of Shane dancing with her at the Flower Dance. She thought of picking melons with Leah, of swimming in the lake with Sam, of tipsy nights at the Saloon giggling with Emily…

The faces of her friends swam before her. Her insides released, and she could breathe again.

Then she closed her eyes, and all she could think about was Sebastian. The way he smiled for her and only her, their hands together on the dock, the way he always smelled like cigarette smoke…

She thought of what the fortune teller had said about the one. She shook her head.

“It’s not Sebastian,” she said aloud, her voice cracking. “He’s the one I have in mind. So clearly, it’s not him. It’s Harvey.”

The pruned face of the fortune teller swam behind her eyes and she nodded firmly. “It’s definitely Harvey."

* * *

 “One sunflower bouquet, all ready!”

Caroline proudly presented Quinn a bright arrangement of sunflowers. She had put the order in that morning and traded for a few pumpkins.

“Thanks, Caroline. I’ll be over sometime in the next few days to help carve those pumpkins! It’ll be best if you let them sit a few days, they’re still pretty tough.”

Caroline beamed. “Abby will love that.”

She exited the shop and made her way to the clinic next door. Maru wasn’t working that day, and she found Harvey behind the counter instead. She scrambled to hide the bouquet, but Harvey was too quick.

“Is that for me?” His face lit up, and Quinn brought the flowers back out, defeated.

“It was supposed to be a surprise…” She stood in front of the counter and presented the bouquet. “I don’t actually know if you like sunflowers, but I do, so deal with it.”

He chuckled. “I will accept this bouquet of flowers that you like.”

She leaned across the counter and kissed him. Something in her stomach tightened like it had never done before – it didn’t feel good. She very quickly ignored the feeling and smiled at Harvey.

“So, how did the rest of your parents visit go?”

Quinn sighed heavily. Her mother had kicked up a fuss before leaving, and Quinn was happy to see them leave.

“I don’t know what I was expecting. Dad was great but mom was the same as she always is. I wouldn’t have expected her to see what dad saw when he came here. I did well in the city, but I’m doing better here. She just… doesn’t want to see it.”

“How are your panic attacks?” Harvey was suddenly in concerned doctor mode once again. “Did the prescription help? Have you made an appointment to see a doctor in the city? I can’t have you marching in my office demanding pills again.”

Quinn’s eyes practically popped out of her head. “Okay, Harvey, we’re going to have to talk about drawing a line between Doctor Harvey and Boyfriend Harvey.”

Harvey chuckled. “I was under the impression you wanted me to be both.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to everyone who's read this far. I've never written this much and it's a bit overwhelming but I'm still chugging along!  
> I haven't decided if this is the last of Quinn's parents that I will write. I have some devious plans and I'm not sure if I want to fuck up her life that much.  
> Also. I'm literally just stealing animals names from Breath of the Wild. I'm so unoriginal.
> 
> This chapter is short, so I will be posting two today.


	19. Chicken Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terrible things start to happen on Quinn's farm, and the culprit is no secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There is a dead chicken in this chapter. It is not graphic, but if it bothers you, please skip the first few paragraphs in the first section! I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable!

Spirit’s Eve came and went, and soon Pelican Town was blanketed under a thin sheet of snow.

The last of Quinn’s fall crops had been sold and invested in more chickens and a companion goat for Riju. Zelda apparently had found her calling in being a mother hen to four chicks with names Quinn couldn't keep straight, and Riju loved to frolic in the snow with the goat, which Quinn called Buliara.

All things considered, Quinn was in for a quiet, comfortable winter.

Until one morning.

She woke up as normal, scratched Trillium behind the ears and fed her cat, started a new fire in the fire place, and started some coffee before heading out to check on her animals.

It was completely normal and routine until she saw the head of a chicken sitting stuffed onto the railing post, its body thrown carelessly at the bottom of the steps.

She screamed and nearly passed out before sprinting to check that the rest of her animals were alive and had heads.

Although the young chicken that had lost its life was very dear to Quinn, she felt comfort knowing it wasn’t Zelda. She cuddled the indignant hen probably a little too hard when she found out her favourite chicken was safe. Riju and Buliara were safe and sound, as well.

She did her best to avert her eyes at the sight of the sacrificed little bird as she made her way back into the farm house to make a call, her heart pounding in her ears.

Shane answered, bleary.

“I need you to come over right away,” she said urgently. “We… we have to plan a chicken funeral.”

She could hear the sheets rumple under him as he sat up.

“What do you mean a chicken funeral? What happened?”

“There has been a murder on my farm, Shane. One of my chickens was brutally slaughtered and I found its head on my railing this morning. I… I didn’t know who else to call besides you for a chicken emergency.”

“I guess that does constitute a chicken emergency,” he replied. She heard his bed groan as he got out of it. “I’ll be right over.”

She paced up and down waiting for him, and when she heard footsteps, she threw open the door to see him gagging at the sight of the beheaded bird.

“What the fuck happened?” he asked thickly as they closed the door to the house behind them.

“I came outside to feed them and saw it. Everyone else is okay. I didn’t hear anything last night. I don’t know what to do, Shane. What even is there to do?”

“We’ll bury it,” he said decisively. “We’ll have to let Marnie know that someone is doing this to chickens, and we’ll install some locks on your barn and coop.”

“I think it was Haley,” Quinn said hollowly. “Haley or Alex. They won’t do anything to Marnie’s chickens, this is all about revenge on me. I should have known better, the fortune teller at the festival said -”

Shane cut her off. “The fortune teller? What are you doing listening to the fortune teller?”

“The fortune teller said something about being careful of a vengeful blonde. One of my chickens got beheaded, Shane, obviously she was on to something.”

“It could have been anyone.”

She rolled her eyes. “Shane, come on. Everyone here loves me, except Haley and Alex because I ‘stole’ Alex and then dumped him. Alex isn’t the type of person to murder a baby chicken though, so I know it was her. A vengeful blonde.”

Shane dragged his hand down his face. “Quinn. Listen to yourself. A festival ‘fortune teller’ saw Haley probably looking at you like she wanted to murder you and based her bullshit prediction off that. Don’t put any stock into the shit they peddle.”

“Better safe than sorry.” Her tone was dark. “Let’s not bury the chicken. I’m going to send the head to her and the body to him. See how they fucking like it.”

Shane threw his arms up. “I’m not getting involved in this. I think it’s a bad idea. We’re burying the damn chicken, you can get revenge on those two idiots some other way. You’re better than them, Quinn. The best thing you can do is not do something stupid like they did. Oh, and tell Mayor Lewis. He’ll at least force them to pay you the cost of the chicken.”

Quinn pursed her lips and looked at Shane.

“Fine. But I’m not fucking happy. Those chicken murderers will have their day.”

* * *

Quinn hated the fact that Alex and Haley were getting the upper hand on her.

She had woken up two days after the chicken debacle with the word “bitch” spray painted on the side of her house. The writing was clearly Haley’s, so she felt reluctant to include Alex in her ire, but held him accountable to control his obviously evil girlfriend.

A few days after that, she found the mail in her box thrown in the pond. After that, her sprinklers had been dug up and the hoses slashed.

A point in her corner, however, was that word was travelling about the beheaded chicken and all the other indescretions, and from what Quinn could hear, most people had come to the consensus that it was Haley who was behind it all. Marnie had kindly replaced Quinn’s chicken at no charge, and the Mayor had both Haley and Alex under close supervision to ensure that they wouldn't cause any more trouble. 

Quinn passed Alex on his way to the gym one morning, and he looked like he had wanted to say something, but decided otherwise and scampered off. She rolled her eyes and continued to the mines.

On the first Friday night of winter, she met up with Sebastian, Sam and Abby at the Saloon like normal. Emily cornered her, apologizing profusely for her sister.

Quinn waved her off. “Em, you do not have to take responsibility for what Haley did. And frankly, an apology, even if it came from her, is not enough. Don’t let her think that this is something you need to do just because we’re friends and I actually like you.”

“Still.” Emily hung her head. “I should have stopped her. I knew something was going on when she left so early in the morning. I told our parents, and they’re cutting her off.”

Quinn looked curious, so Emily continued. “I pay rent to our parents, but they don’t’ expect Haley to. They send her money every two weeks so she can get the food she wants and buy clothes online and such. When I told them about the chicken, they were furious. They’re not sending her money anymore, and she’s expected to pay rent like I am.”

“But… doesn’t she not have a job?”

Emily shrugged, a devilish smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. “She’s being forced to grow up. I’ll be curious to see if they let her stay in the house when she can’t come up with rent at the end of the month.”

Quinn stared at her.

“For what she did to you, she deserves it. She’s been on my nerves lately. And you know me, Quinn, nothing gets on my nerves.”

With that, she left Quinn to serve Pam at the bar. Quinn shook her head and smiled.

“I still can’t believe she killed your chicken,” Abby said as Quinn returned to the group, sinking down on the couch next to her friend. “I wonder whose idea it was.”

“Does it matter?” Sam asked as he smacked the cue ball and missed his target completely. “Quinn’s chicken got its head cut off, do we really need to know which one of them came up with it?”

“It was obviously Haley. Alex wouldn’t hurt a chicken. Also, vengeful blonde.”

Abby groaned. “Are you still on that stupid prediction?”

“Yes, Abigail, I’m still on it!” Quinn’s voice was raising and she had to make a conscious effort not to let it get too loud. “Ever since the chicken, I’ve been taking it very seriously. Who knows what the bitch is going to do next! Me and Robin just barely scrubbed the spray paint off my house.”

“Just get Seb to sleep over and be your guard dog,” Sam suggested. “You two might as well move in together anyway.”

Sebastian hit the cue ball this time, and successfully sunk two striped balls. “I’m no guard dog, Sam. And besides, we’re… not that serious.”

He met Quinn’s eyes. She didn’t say anything.

She had been spending a lot of time thinking about Sebastian as they spent more time together. Although she would still classify their relationship as something closer to “friends with benefits” as opposed to an actual romantic commitment, she still found herself seeking him out more than anyone else. Including Harvey, who was supposedly the “one” according to the fortune teller.

Lately, however, she was starting to have doubts about that last part.

She gave her head a tiny shake to clear her thoughts.

“If Seb was a dog, what kind of dog would he be?” she asked to lighten the mood between the two of them. “I’d picture him as a Boston Terrier or something.”

Sam attempted to hit his balls into the pockets, but predictably missed again. “I’d say he’s more like a nice, loyal black lab.”

“Come on, guys,” Abby replied. “He’s obviously a beagle. Stubborn as fuck and will steal your food when you’re not looking. Quinn, you’re like a corgi.”

“Stumpy and cute?” Quinn asked, laughing. “I can see that. Abs, you’re a Jack Russell Terrier, and Sam, you’re a golden retriever.”

“I really think I’d be more like a cat,” Sebastian said thoughtfully as he lined up his last shot. “Spending so much time with a cat like Trillium has really given me a new respect. They’ve got their whole lives made. Quinn is like a slave to that cat.”

“I am not,” she shot back, even though he was making a good point. “And, no, shut up Seb, you’re a Beagle. It’s been decided. Lock up your trash cans, guys.”

Sebastian won the game of pool easily. Sam groaned and slumped to the bar to buy everyone drinks, as per their bet. He somehow managed to carry two beers, a glass of wine, and a vodka soda back to the games room without dropping anything.

The four of them settled into a table, abandoning the pool table. Abby set her vodka soda down in front of her after a long sip.

“So,” she said, her tone conspiratorial. “How is Haley going to pay for the chicken?”

“This is what I’m talking about,” Quinn hissed. “Shane wouldn’t let me take revenge. The chicken is already buried, otherwise I was going to send it to her.”

“Like… in the mail?” Sam asked, puzzled. “Don’t they inspect that stuff?”

“I’d walk it to her mailbox, genius,” Quinn replied. “I’m not going to pay to send a chicken carcass to a girl I hate.”

She drank some wine like a shot, her blood pressure rising at the thought of getting back at Haley and avenging the poor chicken.

“I think you need to be careful,” Sebastian warned, twisting his body to look at her sitting beside him. “You have a really good reputation around here. Don’t let someone like Haley ruin it.”

“Seb, honey, you have a good point and all, but she murdered an innocent chicken. I don’t have time to be thinking about my reputation.”

“Put some cow shit in her mailbox,” Sam snickered. Quinn considered this.

“That’s actually not a bad idea. Riju is a poop machine. I think that could work.”

The four of them bantered through another two rounds of drinks, until Abigail decided for them that they had to go home. Abby had also apparently decided that she and Quinn were having a girls night, and followed Quinn back to the farm house.

Quinn didn’t mind, and was happy to have company just in case anything else happened overnight. She poured herself and Abby more wine once they changed into pajamas (Abby had to borrow a pair of Quinn’s, and they ended up being too short for the poor girl).

"Alright, Q, you know I'm not a gossip, but I need to know," Abby said, curled up on the end of Quinn's couch. "Sebastian said you weren't serious. I beg to differ."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "We aren't. He wasn't lying."

"So, what, we're supposed to just act like you two idiots don't belong together or something?" Abby asked with a snort. "Please, Quinn. I know you think that stupid fortune is about Harvey, but you're wrong. I've never seen Sebastian like this before. It's kind of weird. But every time he sees you it's like all the air got sucked out of his lungs and I can literally see the hearts come out of his eyes."

"It's not like that at all." Quinn sipped her wine, although she didn't totally believe what she was saying. "Sebastian is comfortable for me. Nothing else."

Abby regarded her with a totally nonplussed expression. "You're an idiot."

* * *

Even after Abby left that morning, her face kept showing up in Quinn's head and repeating that Quinn was an idiot. Perhaps she was. 

"Why am I always in such shit?” she asked herself, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes.

She forced herself to do work around the farm, not noticing any more evidence of Haley’s rampage against her, thankfully.

She moved thoughts of Abby from her head as she walked through the light blanket of snow to Harvey’s. She hadn’t warned him that she was coming over, but when he opened the door to her in her tartan cape, he seemed pleased.

“Hello, darling,” he gushed, ushering her inside. “I actually just put on a pot of coffee!”

They made their way into his small apartment where he pushed a warm mug into her hands and kissed the top of her head. They settled on the couch to watch the TV set to the history channel.

“What brings you over here?” he asked over his mug. “Not that I mind. I don’t ever mind seeing you.”

Quinn shrugged. “I needed to get out of the house and felt like bugging you.”

He beamed and they finished their coffee in comfortable silence. When they were finished, he pulled her body into his and held her tight.

“I’m happy you came over,” he said, his tone further proof that he was genuine. “I am always happy to spend time with you.”

He planted another kiss to the top of her head. She felt the pull in her stomach, the sharp one that she had first felt when she handed over his bouquet of sunflowers. She winced slightly, but ignored it and craned her neck awkwardly to kiss him squarely on the mouth.

Aside from their first date in Harvey’s apartment, they had never really spent much time alone together. Flu season had started early that year, according to Harvey, and he had been spending extra time in the clinic.

She shifted her body so she could face him without causing a neck cramp, and kissed him again. His hands were warm on her arms.

Her hands ran the length of his chest, but when she began to send them further down, he stiffened, and took them in his.

“Quinn, I think we should talk about this.” His face was red and he couldn’t quite meet her eyes. “I… well. As a doctor, I take sexual health very seriously. As such, I must inform you that I prefer to keep relations strictly… inside a serious, committed relationship. Such as… marriage.”

She laughed hollowly. “That’s the fanciest way I’ve ever been rejected.”

Harvey waved his hands wildly. “No, no, my darling, please don’t think I’m rejecting you. I just… that’s what I prefer.”

Quinn sat up. “I can respect that. Thanks for letting me know.”

Harvey took her hands in his and kissed the backs of them tenderly. “Thank you for understanding, Quinn. I knew you were special. Will you… stay?”

She nodded, falling back into his arms as they watched a boring documentary.


	20. Mermaid Pendant

Pelican Town received a record amount of snowfall the day after the Ice Festival, and Sebastian was stranded at Quinn’s.

Not that he minded. Not at all.

He woke up early that morning, after spending the night at Quinn’s after the festival. He never slept in when he stayed at the farm, likely because he never stayed up all night on the computer like he did at home. Quinn was softly snoring beside him.

He thought to get up and check on the animals, but that plan was foiled when he opened the door and was greeted by a wall of snow that extended past the door. Quinn had checked the animals feeders and heaters before they went to bed the night before, so he wasn’t so much worried for them as he was for himself and Quinn. He _knew_ this would drive her crazy.

He crawled back into bed and scooped her into his arms once again. She made a few noises and fidgeted a bit, but soon she was snuggled tightly into his chest. He kissed the top of her head and a few strands of brown hair got stuck to his lips. He didn’t mind.

She talked in her sleep. Not loudly, and he could only make out a few words, but he heard her babbling before he himself drifted off. He was happy to have heard his name more than once.

He rubbed her back through her shirt now, a mindless action performed usually to soothe her. She made a small noise at the back of her throat.

He felt warm with happiness when he was with her, a feeling he wasn’t used to and had never felt before with anyone else. He had dated lots of women – being constantly on the computer definitely had its perks – but none quite like Quinn. He was glad her stupid plan that she had Sam had devised to date everyone had failed, because he liked knowing he had her to himself.

She had confided in him about how much the fortune teller’s predictions were stressing her out. How she was convinced that Doctor Fairchild was the one that she was destined to be with, and how she was upset that he didn’t want to have sex with her before marriage.

She confided in him that the thought of being married scared her. Hell, it had scared him too, they were both so young. But sometimes, and he would never admit this to her, when he thought about her, the concept didn’t scare him as much.

This thought, however, scared the everloving shit out of him.

Everyone had noticed the change in him, although most didn’t say anything. His mother, however, was in her element as her face lit up whenever she saw the two of them together. She had evidently seen Sebastian kiss Quinn goodbye through the window of her shop, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when he came back inside to tell him how happy she was that he had finally found someone as nice as Quinn.

Sebastian wouldn’t mind if Quinn didn’t feel as strongly about him as he did her. He would be okay if the only reason Quinn was with him was so she could be with Harvey and still have the satisfaction of sex. He could have a piece of her, and that’s what mattered to him.

She shifted in her sleep again as the realization hit him.

He groaned.

_Yoba. I’m in love._

* * *

 The snow blocking Quinn’s front door thankfully melted away quickly thanks to the unusually high temperature the day after the snow fell. It couldn’t have come at a better time, either, since Sebastian began acting weird the day before. They had only been stuck together for one day; she couldn’t imagine that she was that bad.

Once a path had been cleared, he left the farm, his movements jerky and erratic. She stared after him, completely bewildered. She sent messages to Sam and Abby to recruit them to get to the bottom of it.

The animals were perfectly fine; she had always overstuffed their hay feeders anyway, so they would have been okay for at least three more days despite the snow. Riju and Buliara were grateful to be let outside, however.

She re-entered the farm house with nothing to do now that Sebastian had left. She had asked him over the night of the Ice Festival in frustration. She had spent the day before with Harvey, who didn’t so much as even touch her, and while she respected him and his decisions, she didn’t like it. Sebastian was an old comfort that she could always rely on.

Her sheets smelled like him. She lay on top of her bed and his scent surrounded her.

She was grateful for him.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Sam. His response made her choke.

_His dumb ass probably just finally put it together that he’s in love with you lol. He’s weird about that shit. Or, idk, maybe it’s bc he forgot his cigarettes at my place and he’s going thru withdrawal. I can ask and let u know later._

She stared at the line that said “he’s in love with you.” Sebastian wasn’t in love with her. Sam was obviously mistaken.

Although… Sam would be the one Sebastian would confide in if he was.

“Shit,” she said aloud, scaring Trillium.

But then she really thought about it. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

* * *

  _Dear Quinn,_

_Meet me by the railroad tracks. I have a surprise for you._

_\- Harvey_

Quinn unfolded the letter one chilly morning. She was puzzled. What could possibly be up by the railroad tracks that Harvey would need to be up there to surprise her?

Nonetheless, she trudged over after taking care of the animals. Harvey was waiting for her near the station, along with a man in a top hat and a hot air balloon.

“Harvey, what is this?” she asked, drawing the edges of her cape jacket closer. “I thought you were afraid of heights?”

“Oh, I am!” Harvey chirped, his voice an entire octave higher than it normally was. The man informed them that they had the balloon for two hours, then set off towards the Saloon despite it only being 9 in the morning.

“I just thought that perhaps it was time to overcome my fear. I’ve overcome one fear already, so why not another?”

“What have you already overcome?” Quinn asked, curious. He smiled softly.

“When my wife left me, I didn’t think I would ever find myself lucky enough to be with another person. Yet, here you are, Quinn. I was afraid I would be alone all my life.”

Despite his kind words, a chill ran through Quinn’s heart. Harvey had been getting awfully serious lately, and it was starting to freak her out.

“Well,” she said breezily. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get up there!”

She hopped fearlessly into the basket. Harvey chewed a nail off, and reluctantly climbed in after her and started the balloon.

When it began to climb in altitude, he started to shake and whimper. He sat down.

“I’ll… just be down here if you need me.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed and looked out over the Valley, which was getting smaller by the second. She had never really been afraid of heights, and the nippy winter air combined with the altitude thrilled her.

“Come look, Harvey,” she urged gently. “You won’t get over your fear if you don’t!”

Slowly but surely, Harvey peeked out over the edge of the basket. Even slower, he stood up.

“This isn’t so bad,” he said, although his voice was a bit unsteady. He shimmied closer to her. “It’s better when you’re here, my dear.”

She kissed him and had to ignore the pull in her stomach that was becoming sickeningly familiar.

They stood closely huddled together in the basket, looking out over the Valley.

Harvey suddenly cleared his throat and Quinn looked up at him. He looked nervous, and it didn’t seem like it was about their position in the sky.

“Quinn,” he said, his words sounding like a question. “We’ve known each other for a while. I have come to care about you… immensely. The day you agreed to go on a date with me was quite possibly the happiest day of my life.”

The feeling in her stomach started getting worse to the point where she began to feel nauseous.

“I’m wondering… I’m wondering if perhaps today will be the new happiest day of my life.”

She felt like she was going to throw up as he pulled a seashell at the end of a simple chain from his pocket.

“This isn’t what you or I are used to,” he said, misreading her expression. “But since we’ve both become so attached to the Valley, I thought this would be more appropriate.”

She had to swallow vomit as he nervously got down on one knee in front of her. The balloon had been descending for quite some time now, and they were fairly close to the ground.

“Quinn, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I might not be the most exciting guy, but I promise that I will be loyal to you. You make me happier than any other person I have ever encountered. Quinn… will you marry me?”

She choked on a sob, and it had nothing to do with her emotions at the scene in front of her. As the basket touched down on the ground, she was nearly doubled over at the pain in the pit of her stomach.

“No.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hadn't intended on anything remotely angsty in this fic but here we are. I'm so sorry, Harvey. If we must place blame, we must place it on Quinn for being an idiot and putting so much stock in the fortune teller that it literally makes her sick.  
> 


	21. Feast of the Winter Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What else are you supposed to do when your life is seemingly being controlled by a stupid fortune teller?

Quinn hadn’t left her house in days. She was too mortified about what had happened with Harvey. After she had said no to his proposal, she promptly passed out from the pain in her stomach and he was forced to take care of her. When she woke up, she could tell he was trying his best to stay professional, but his eyes were slightly red and it was obvious that he had been crying. She had no idea what people would think of her for rejecting the beloved town doctor.

Hence her becoming a bit of a recluse.

She had tried desperately to contact Sebastian, to no avail. Sam and Abby had no luck getting to the bottom of his sudden departure, either.

She was beginning to get a bit stir crazy when the letter from Mayor Lewis reminding her about the Feast of the Winter Star arrived. The tradition in Pelican Town was not to buy a mess of gifts for all her friends, but buy a single gift for someone randomly assigned to her. Lewis had picked Shane as her giftee.

For what felt the first time in nearly a week, she cracked a smile. She already knew what Shane was going to get. She had been preparing a homemade picture frame that would house pictures of her farm animals for him to hang up, either in his room or in Marnie’s barn. He was quite attached to all the animals leaving Marnie’s Ranch, and she knew that he would appreciate it.

She resolved to do something productive with the day. It had snowed a little the night before, and while the ground was still covered in fluffies, it wasn’t as cold as it had been.

Her walk into town was pleasant enough. The square was empty, as was Pierre’s shop when she entered. The shopkeeper greeted her warmly, but otherwise left her alone to do her grocery shopping.

“I’ve hardly seen you lately,” Pierre said as he rung up her items. “We’ve missed you around here. Have you been well?”

Quinn smiled weakly. “Sure I have.”

Pierre’s face contorted into an expression of concern. “You don’t have to lie to me, Quinn. You’re a terrible liar.”

“You sound like Abby.” She laughed quietly. “I appreciate the concern, Pierre, but I’m fine. Everything is fine.”

“I’m guessing the Doctor’s proposal didn’t go so well, did it?”

She met his eyes. “How did you know about that?”

“He came in looking for the pendant here. I don’t sell it, you can only get it down on the beach when it rains. I’ve barely seen him since then, so I figured it either went well, or it didn’t, and I can quite clearly see that it didn’t.”

Quinn gave Pierre a strong side eye as she turned her head. “I said no.”

“Well, perhaps then it’s for the best. I understand that the Doctor wants to settle down, of course, but… you don’t seem like the type for marriage.”

He finished bagging her items and was counting out the gold she had handed over.

“And besides,” he continued without looking up. “I had always thought that Abby would end up with Sebastian, but now… now I think it might be you who ends up with him.”

* * *

 

Sebastian was an idiot.

He had stupidly run away from Quinn’s house upon realizing that he had fallen in love with her, and now he was ignoring her trying to get in contact with him.

His mother had come home one afternoon with gossip, saying that Doctor Fairchild had proposed to Quinn. Sebastian’s heart sank until he caught the glint in his mothers’ eye when she reported that Quinn had said no. Sebastian had tried to act casual, but nothing got past Robin.

“Oh, Sebby. I know you don’t want to talk to me about this, but I really think that you two have something special.”

He looked away, unable to meet her eyes. He was sure she would be disappointed when she found out what a dumb thing he was doing. Robin shrugged.

“I’m just saying, honey, you deserve to be happy. And I know she makes you happy.”

* * *

 

Quinn pulled her coat closer to her body, cursing whoever had the genius idea to hold a fucking feast outside in the dead of winter.

The feast had already started by the time she got her ass in gear and made it to the town square. The smell of Gus’s feast melted away her annoyances about the cold. She set her gift for Shane under the enormous tree in the middle of the square, and joined Sam and his mother and brother at a table.

“Hello, Miss Quinn!” Vincent chirped. Quinn ruffled his hair.

“Did you get a good gift for your Winter Star friend?” she asked. He nodded.

“I know I’m not supposed to tell you who I got, but I bet you can keep a secret. My friend was Miss Emily, so me and my mom made her a seashell necklace!”

Quinn grinned. “Miss Emily is going to have a great Feast then. Good choice, buddy.”

“I would hope that he wouldn’t tell you what he got if his friend was you,” Jodi said with a giggle. “He’s been having such a hard time keeping that to himself, you wouldn’t believe it.”

“Who did you get, Quinn?” Sam asked, his mouth full of food. “I got Maru a microscope set. I hope she doesn’t already have one.”

“I got Shane,” she replied as she piled some food on her dish. “I made him a frame and put in pictures of the animals.”

“Well, isn’t that thoughtful!” Jodi said. “You know, Samson, you could have made something homemade for Maru as well.”

“I’m not that creative.” He sprayed his mother a little with stuffing. “Besides, Maru is into science-y shit, I don’t think I could home make any of that.”

Jodi and Sam continued to bicker about homemade gifts. Quinn couldn’t find Sebastian as she scanned the square while eating, but caught Harvey’s eye and looked down guiltily. He was sitting by himself.

She felt like garbage after seeing him sitting alone. He hadn’t even bothered to sit with Maru and her parents, despite how close of friends the two were. She knew Robin wouldn’t have minded.

She was thankful that Jodi was asking about her spring plans for the farm as opposed to what had happened with the Doctor. She was sure that had gotten around, especially after her conversation with Pierre.

Once the majority of people had finished eating, Lewis announced that the gift giving would begin. He called on several people until he got to Quinn. She picked up the gift for Shane from under the tree and presented it to him. He looked shocked.

“I worked really hard on this, so you’d better like it,” she said in a fake threatening tone. He smiled a little as he opened it.

He didn’t say anything right away, and Quinn got concerned.

Suddenly, he stood up and scooped her into a bone crushing hug.

“You’re my best friend, you know that?” he said into her ear. She laughed.

“You’re my best friend, you big grump.”

They released each other from the hug and Quinn went to sit back down until she was presented with her gift.

Her stomach sank as Haley’s name was called and she sauntered over to Quinn. She daintily placed the package in Quinn’s lap and sneered at the farmer.

“I hope you like your gift, you disgusting trash bag,” she said quietly. Quinn was sure no one else heard.

She peeked inside the small box to see nothing more than an ornament.

“This is nice, Haley, thank you,” she said stiffly. Haley scoffed and stalked away. Sam was sniffing the air beside Quinn.

“Might want to throw that out when you get home,” he said. “There’s definitely shit inside that ornament.”

* * *

 

Quinn returned home from the Feast rather late and a little more inebriated than she had intended on being. After the event ended, Leah had invited a few people to her cabin for some drinks, and Quinn had over indulged a little too much.

She was therefore surprised to see that Sebastian was already in her house, waiting for her. He had started a fire and the farm house was very cozy.

“Oh, Sebby! There you are!” Her words were slurred and she was sure she reeked of cheap tequila. “I didn’t see you at the Feast. I’m glad you didn’t die or anything.”

Sebastian chuckled. “No, I didn’t die. I just didn’t feel like being in a crowd.”

“You missed a lot of fun. Haley gave me a shit filled ornament. What a fuckin’ bitch, man.”

Sebastian helped her take her coat off, as she was having trouble figuring out how to get her arm out of the arm hole. She giggled.

“I missed you,” she said, drawing out her words. “I get so lonely without you, Sebastian.”

She could consciously tell that she was going to end up saying something stupid, but she didn’t care that much. After all, it was only Sebastian.

“I missed you too,” he said in a low voice, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m really sorry I haven’t called or anything. I’ve been… dealing with some things.”

“Like what?” she asked. She broke away from him and plopped on the couch, spreading her body over the entire surface.

He sat down beside her but didn’t say anything right away. Then –

“Why did you say no when Harvey proposed to you?”

Quinn wasn’t expecting that. She opened her mouth, but didn’t speak.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he said. “I just… I thought you were all gung ho about being with him. It was kind of a shock when mom told me, is all.”

Quinn pursed her lips. “I think the fortune teller was wrong. Or, maybe… maybe I was wrong. I don’t know, Seb, I wanted to be with him so bad but every time we were together, it was like someone was punching my fucking intestines. It’s not easy to be with someone when you literally puke in your mouth while they’re proposing. I don’t think that I’m supposed to be with him, it must be someone else.”

She missed the hopeful expression on Sebastian’s face when she said that. She was looking at her hands instead.

“I fucked up this town,” she said sorrowfully, almost catching herself by surprise. She wasn’t normally this emotional when she drank. “I fucked up Alex and now I’ve fucked up Harvey. I’m sure it won’t be long before I fuck things up with you too.”

Sebastian touched her arm as if to soothe her. “Quinn, you’re not going to fuck anything up with me. Yeah, I agree that you fucked Alex up a bit, considering he went back to a manipulator, but Harvey will be fine. He’s an adult.”

Her body was suddenly wracked with sobs as tears spilled out of her eyes. She really hadn’t wanted this to happen, but once it started, it was hard to make it stop.

Sebastian didn’t seem to know what to do. He kept his hand on her arm, but other than that, made no effort to console her.

“I just wanted to get away from Joja,” she whispered through her tears. “I didn’t want to come out here and ruin people’s lives, Sebastian, Alex was right. I’m a fucking awful person.”

Sebastian scooped her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “You didn’t ruin anyone’s life, Quinn, things like this happen all the time. I’m sure that someone getting his heart broken isn’t going to ruin his life. You’ve… you’ve really made it worthwhile to live here, you know. I used to want to move to the city, but now I don’t, and that’s because of you. Give yourself a little more credit.”

She sniffled loudly. “Yeah, and by staying here, you’re putting your dreams on hold. Seb, don’t stay here because of me. Go out and do great things.”

“Being in the city isn’t my dream anymore.” He held her at arms length and looked at her so seriously that his eyes were practically burning holes in her face. “My dream changed, okay? I can do just fine staying here and programming for strangers on the internet. I don’t need the city to be successful. I want to stay here with you, and Sam, and Abby, and my mom…”

When she raised her eyes to look at him once again, she couldn’t deny the pull in her stomach. Unlike the one with Harvey, it was pleasant and didn’t make her want to throw up and then pass out.

She searched his face, and a sudden feeling came bubbling up through her chest as she looked him in the eye. She was brave enough to say this drunk, but couldn’t decide whether she would have done it sober.

“I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> I have some news.  
> My laptop, bless the poor thing, is dead. Along with everything I have written for this fic. I have this chapter and two others saved as drafts, but other than that, I have nothing. I will hopefully be getting it fixed, but it’s a really old model, and the places I called weren’t sure if they could help me.  
> So, Bad Ideas is officially on hiatus. I think this is a good spot to leave off, I just don’t have it in me to recreate all the chapters I’ve already written.  
> However! I have another laptop somewhere that I got from school that I will try to find and use to continue my other fic. I’m also working on another Stardew AU that I don’t know if I’ll post or not, but here’s a heads up.  
> I am marking this story complete, as I think I left it on an okay note, but if I am able to, I will continue it as a series.


End file.
